Due to neural chips it will be possible to cure sensory disabilities
Neural implants are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are moving towards practical and functional experimentation. The scientific and medical progress in synaptic-cerebral field is achieving more and more milestones that until just a few years ago were considered unreachable, and can be considered among the great advances of modern medicine. Thanks to the development of computational neuroscience, neuroimplant technologies, i.e. the ability to communicate directly with the brain, is becoming an increasingly close reality.
The meaning of neural communication:
Neural communication is the process through which the brain communicates and controls the body. This process is essential for life and is entirely controlled by electrical impulses, from those emitted by the central nervous system to those that contract the muscles. Most of these functions are "automatic" (such as heart rate, metabolism, hormone production, and so on), so much so that people don't even notice them normally. However, if any problem occurs, various pathologies, even severe and potentially life-threatening, can arise, such as cardiac arrhythmias, diabetes, motor disabilities, paralysis, and an infinite number of other diseases. The obstacles to these mechanisms can be as much due to internal cerebral deficit, i.e. there is a synaptic problem of neurons, as to "signal interruption", i.e. when the brain fails to communicate with muscles, organs or other parts of the body involved in such processes.
Innovation in the field of neural implants:
Fortunately, modern neuroscience is offering new solutions to restore these functions. Current neural implants are medical devices that allow malfunctioning or interrupted areas to be replaced, enhanced or restored. Until recently, such devices were used only for monitoring or stimulating the brain, but now, with their further evolution, they can be used to communicate directly with the nervous system. Over the past few years, both in design (they must be as less limiting as possible in terms of dimension, size, and shape) and functionality, they have become smaller, more precise and capable of communicating through a wider range of circuits.
The human nervous system is the most complex that can exist in nature and is composed of approximately from 80 to 100 billion neurons, generating from 10^14 to 10^16 synapses: a deep neural-net whose precise mechanism is still in some parts unknown, communicating through the propagation of those electrical signals. The most advanced neural implants use microelectrodes to "read" these electrical signals from the brain and translate them into signals that can be interpreted by a computer. In this way, a command sent by the brain can, for example, be used to control the mechanical movement of a prosthetic arm or a walking mechanism. This technology represents a tremendous step forward in the management of motor disabilities and promises to offer a new independence to people with disabilities.
Real-time brain activity recording:
To record real-time brain activity, neural implants can use various forms of technology, starting from non-invasive ones, such as "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (or fMRI) up to implants directly connected in the cerebral cortex, such as the various neurochips currently being developed, from the famous "Neuralink" to others such as "BIOS" and "Novum". Some of these have given a positive experimental outcome in our primate "cousins," allowing a direct interpretation of thought.
The use of neural implants in the medical field:
Currently, neural implants are mainly used to supplement various disabilities. For example, some people with motor dysfunctions have received neural implants to enhance communication between their nerve cells and their prostheses. The results obtained have been very positive and have confirmed that neural implants can offer a long-term solution to individuals with such pathologies.
Future or futuristic developments?
For the future, research is focusing on in-depth analysis of signals between neuron and neuron to better understand what interrupts synapses (and therefore creates a block of nerve circuits) and how different brain areas communicate with each other. This research has already led to new progress in understanding cerebral disorders such as epilepsy or Parkinson's disease. All of this will, therefore, represent a milestone for the management of cerebral dysfunctions, offering great potential for medicine, but not only: it is thought that such technology can be used on an even larger scale, offering futuristic possibilities such as the ability of direct communication between two brains or improving the cognitive and sensory abilities of our brain. This will obviously require appropriate legal regulations, which are hoped to be implemented concurrently with the practical application of such technologies.