Elon Musk’s company neuralink is making strides with regards to implanted brain augmentation that lets the user control computer interfaces with their mind. However, a new study might be nightmare fuel for some, as scientists were able to do the opposite: control mice with the flick of a switch.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Elon Musk's company, Neuralink, is making strides with regards to implanted brain augmentation.
00:09It lets the user control computer interfaces with their mind.
00:12However, a new study might be nightmare fuel for some, as scientists were able to do the
00:16opposite, control mice with the flick of a switch.
00:20The mice were engineered with nanoparticle activated switches in their brains.
00:24This is a far cry from previous mind control experiments, ones where surgically implanted
00:28electrodes were required.
00:30This new experiment didn't need any of that, with the researchers simply engineering the
00:34mice and then turning on a magnetic field.
00:37The researchers say they were able to enhance the natural behaviors of mother mice, with
00:41the females reacting more quickly and intensely to the cries of baby mice.
00:45Amongst mice who were introduced to strangers, they found when the magnetic field was washing
00:49over their brains, they were friendlier.
00:51Researchers were also able to turn on or off a mouse's hunger response.
00:55They're calling the tech Magnetogenic Interface for Neurodynamics, or Nanomind for short,
01:00with the study's senior author saying, this is the world's first technology to freely
01:04control specific brain regions using magnetic fields.