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The business of brain–computer interfaces

Nature Biotechnology volume 37, pages 978–982 (2019)Cite this article

Despite dazzling lab demonstrations, robust and viable clinical interventions using brain–computer interfaces remain some way off.

The UCSF study was the first to decode neural activity to produce full sentences at the rate of natural speech1,2. It’s one of a growing number of results that illustrate the remarkable strides brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) have made in recent years. BCIs have also been used to enable artificial touch sensations by targeted stimulation in the sensory cortex3,4, to allow patients whose arms are paralyzed to use off-the-shelf tablet computers by thinking swipes and taps5, and to restore hand function by controlling electrical stimulation of hand muscles6. Taken together, these results show that the field of BCIs is moving closer to clinical applications, says Justin Sanchez, former director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversees DARPA’s brain interface projects (Box 1). “We have definitely reached a critical mass of capability and functionality,” he adds.

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    Eric Smalley

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Smalley, E. The business of brain–computer interfaces. Nat Biotechnol 37, 978–982 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-019-0231-y

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