Modern day science is amazing. We now have technologies available to us which can seriously help us in the event of an unfortunate accident. A century ago, patients with asthma for example, would have a very short life expectancy and many died due to their condition. Today, asthma related deaths in the West are virtually unheard of, and patients can be expected to live their lives to the fullest.
The same is true with brain related injuries and problems with the central nervous system. At one time, any injuries to the brain would have meant almost certain death or brain damage, but advances in modern medicine have limited the impact of brain damage on the human body.
One area of science which is causing quite a stir though is the dawn of cybernetics. Cybernetics can be seen as the fusion between medicine and neuroscience technology. In particular, cybernetic devices have been created to work in conjunction with the brain and the central nervous system, in order to help humans overcome certain health problems and disabilities.
One such example of cybernetic devices involves deep brain implanted ‘chips’ which send electrical impulses to mimic neural patterns and help control conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The American FDA is now looking at approving the use of such devices for epilepsy, Tourette’s syndrome, depression and pain relief.
The amazing thing about these devices is that new information can be sent to them wirelessly through the skull, so that any emerging upgrades can be downloaded to the brain effortlessly.
However, the most important technological breakthrough would have to be the brain-computer interface or BCI. These are devices that not only allow users to download sensory information to the brain, but can also receive information from the brain.
One such use of BCIs is implants which are inserted inside the inner ear to cure deafness. Over an hundred thousand people have benefited from this technology and are now hearing for the first time in their life.
All this may seem like something you would see on Star Trek, but these developments highlight what the future holds for the capabilities of the human brain. Once seen as an enigma, science is now unraveling the workings of the human mind in a way that can seriously help people with long term problems and disabilities.
While we may never get to the stage where we can actually control and take over people’s minds (there is no doubt that perhaps some unethical companies out there may try), the very fact that we now have treatments available for diseases with no cures helps to strengthen the argument against those people who oppose such neuro-technologies.
These people claim that interfering with the brain can have unknown consequences, and lead to other problems with the brain. Because these technologies are new, long term impact of these devices has not yet been studied. In any case though, the benefits of such technology provide a ray of hope for people with long term problems such as paralysis for which one day there may be a cure.
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