Elon Musk is looking to conduct a brain experiment on one willing participant.
The tech giant’s brain implant startup, Neuralink, is seeking a single volunteer who will allow the company to hack off a portion of their skull and insert a device into their brain. The experiment will help the company better understand how they can connect the nervous system to actual computers. Their motivation is to treat brain injuries and disorders better. Still, it may be extremely difficult to find someone willing to undergo the risky procedure.
The company is seeking a very specific patient for the experiment: someone who is a quadriplegic adult under age 40, Fox 29 confirms. The reason for this is to hopefully one day restore body movements. Neuralink wants to keep the instrument installed in the patient’s head for several years as it analyzes different functions and even reads their thoughts. The small object is the size of a coin with thin wires that will be stuck directly into the brain. The Neuralink installation test will be completed with the help of a seven-foot-tall robot, which will insert 64 wires into the participant’s brain. Each wire will contain 16 electrodes to gather the necessary data.
As of now, it’s unclear if Neuralink has found its perfect person, but interested parties may apply on the company’s website. The patient registry is also open for those wanting to sign up for future trials.
