Brain implants might soon restore vision to the blind, improve digestion, relieve PTSD symptoms

[Brain implant experiments] like those that let a paralyzed person swig coffee using a robotic arm, or that let blind people “see” spots of light, have proven the huge potential of computers that interface with the brain. But the implanted electrodes used in such trials eventually become useless, as scar tissue forms that degrades their electrical connection to brain cells.

[However,] tests will begin in monkeys of a new implant for piping data into the brain that is designed to avoid that problem. [Led by Harvard researchers,] the project is intended to lead to devices that can restore vision to blind people long-term…[The device will] go beneath the skull but can rest on the surface of an animal’s brain, instead of penetrating inside the organ.

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“There could be very nice applications in other parts of the body,” says Todd Coleman, an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. He suggests the tiny coils [in the brain implant] could be used to modulate activity in…the human digestive system…to help people with conditions in which the gut doesn’t move food along as it should.

Bernard Casse, a researcher at the PARC research institute, owned by Xerox, where the new implant design was invented…says he is interested in exploring use of the technology on the vagus nerve in the chest to control symptoms of PTSD.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: This Technology Could Finally Make Brain Implants Practical