The XX International Scientific and Technical Conference "Neuroinformatics-2018", organized with the participation of the National Research Nuclear Institute "MEPhI" (NRNU MEPhI), gathered in Moscow the largest experts in the field of artificial neural networks, neurobiology and systems biophysics. A lively interest of the conference participants was aroused by the report of Mikhail Lebedev, Scientific Director of the Center for Bioelectric Interfaces at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Senior Research Fellow at Duke University, on the latest developments in the field of creating a brain-computer interface. The scientist told the correspondent of the project "Social Navigator" MIA "Russia Today" about the importance of research in this area.
Mikhail Albertovich, what is the "brain-computer" interface and what is it for?
- This is a device that reads brain signals, as if reading thoughts, and then sends these signals to some external devices.
The first task of the brain-computer interface is to restore motor function in paralyzed patients.
With a spinal cord injury, a person often interrupts the connection between the brain and the arms and, more often, the legs. But the brain remains perfectly normal and contains all the areas that can reproduce movement. Therefore, by recording all brain signals, decoding them and directing them to prostheses or by stimulating the muscles of the person himself, we can restore movement.
Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are completely paralyzed, and they cannot communicate with the outside world in any way, although their consciousness works perfectly. They need a means of communication, so we read the signals from their brains and connect them to the computer. This allows patients to send signals outward and communicate with other people.
Do the new interfaces provide other options for patients?
- Yes, they help eliminate various sensory impairments. For example, a paralyzed person stops feeling the paralyzed parts of the body, phantom pain comes instead. By stimulating the brain, on the one hand, we can artificially induce a lost sensation, and on the other hand, remove phantom pain, which is also associated with impaired body functions.
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Moving on, you can imagine that at some point these interfaces will help improve brain function, even in healthy people.
There are already firms that say, "We'll connect you to a video game," and so on. Of course, this is a scam, since they do not record real brain signals, but record some other signals related to body movement or myographic activity of facial muscles.
But this is what you can strive for. So far, such a "brain improvement" is not necessary for a healthy person, but I can well imagine a situation in the future when it will be fashionable to have an implant, connect it to gadgets and somehow use it.
Don't you think it's scary?
- Yes, there is some danger in this, and now philosophers and ethicists are thinking about these questions. But so far, the development and implementation of such implants is a distant prospect, not even tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow.
Can research on the brain-computer interface give an impetus for the development of robotics?
- The outstanding physicist Richard Feynman liked to say: "I will begin to understand something only when I can do it."
It's easy to describe how the interface works - we connect it to the brain, restore motor functions, and so on. Everything is clear and understandable. But putting this into practice is a completely different matter.
Completely new challenges for robotics are emerging. Let's say how to create an exoskeleton for a paralyzed patient.
Currently, a completely paralyzed patient cannot yet be placed in an exoskeleton. Robotics is not yet ready for this - a person is too heavy, and it is very difficult to balance his weight in an upright position.
But there are already exoskeletons for patients with paralyzed legs, they use crutches when walking and are perfectly rehabilitated. When walking, such a patient is outwardly almost indistinguishable from a healthy person. And we see how, in solving this problem, different scientific disciplines converge, give each other an impetus for development, useful and mutually beneficial exchange.
