Blackrock Neurotech’s Post

In a significant step forward in medical science, researchers from Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research have successfully conducted the first double neural bypass operation - employing our Utah Array. Keith Thomas, a 45-year-old man paralyzed from the chest down due to a diving accident, is the first to experience the transformative results of this operation. The researchers successfully implanted our Utah Array into specific regions of Thomas's brain to stimulate motion and feeling. When Thomas visualizes a movement, our device captures the electrical signals in his brain and relays them to a computer that decodes the signals and stimulates the appropriate muscles, thus facilitating the movement Thomas imagines. The same process aids in restoring Thomas's sense of touch. Sensors on his skin send signals to the computer, which communicates with the Utah Arrays in his brain, enabling him to experience tactile sensations once again. Post-operation, Thomas has demonstrated significant progress, regaining the ability to move his arms and feel sensations on his skin. This operation marks a remarkable advancement in paralysis research and brain-computer interfacing, taking a giant leap forward in our understanding and ability to restore mobility and sensation in individuals affected by paralysis. Read the full TIME story and watch Keith's story here: https://lnkd.in/g9exCUhW #BCI #Neurotech #Medtech #Neuroscience #Technology #Paralysis #Braincomputerinterface

We're excited to have spent time with the brilliant CNN Decoded team. We're even more excited for you to tune in this Sunday and see how our brain-computer interface technology is changing lives, today. #CNNDecoded #Neurotech

Morning Brew talks brain-computer interfaces (BCI) with the best of the best (Ian Burkhart & Harrison Canning). With all the buzz around BCIs, it's exciting to see Blackrock Neurotech's groundbreaking work in the spotlight. Our adaptive BCI technology ensures consistent performance over time, leveraging AI to decode complex brain signals, opening up a world of possibilities for restoring and enhancing human capabilities. While we've already seen remarkable results, notably in the restoration of movement, communication, and sensation—we're just getting started. The potential applications of BCI technology are incredible: • Mental Health: Revolutionary treatments for depression, PTSD, and ADHD • Neurological Disorders: New approaches to epilepsy, Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's • Sensory Restoration: Groundbreaking possibilities for vision and hearing restoration • Pain Management: Innovative solutions for chronic pain At Blackrock Neurotech, we're committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible with BCI technology. We're not just developing devices; we're opening new frontiers in human capability. Watch the full video here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gP39MQQK

Join us today at 7PM ET for an expert panel discussion with EverythingALS, featuring our own Spencer Kellis. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gAhzQ3yG

“I think we’re reaching the pinnacle in the development of this technology in concert with AI, to where these things are a real possibility, now. It’s not just 'what ifs'. It’s 'when' at this point," says Pioneering BCI user, James Johnson. An amazing representation of minds and technology convergence on the stage at the United Nations' AI for Good summit, including James, Caltech's Jorge Arturo G., Taryn Southern, and host Sumner L Norman for this conversation. Absolutely brilliant.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 300 million people. For approximately 30% of patients, standard treatments prove ineffective, leading to treatment resistant depression (TRD). That’s ~90 million people living with TRD, or the combined populations of the entire states of California, New York, and Florida. Notably, a key characteristic of MDD is a bias towards negative information processing and away from positive information processing. As this phenomena may perpetuate the disorder, understanding the neural basis of this emotional bias is crucial for developing more targeted, effective treatments. Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine's Kelly Bijanki Lab took advantage of a unique opportunity to record intracranial EEG in patients with TRD with an epilepsy control group while they rated emotional faces. Blackrock Neurotech's Cerebus data acquisition system was instrumental in capturing this neural data with high spatiotemporal precision. The findings revealed separate neural mechanisms driving the emotion processing bias in TRD: 1. Early (~300ms) increased amygdala response to sad faces, suggesting overactive bottom-up emotion processing 2. Late (~600ms) decreased amygdala response to happy faces, likely due to increased top-down inhibition from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) via enhanced alpha oscillations 3. Greater alpha-band power in the PFC and alpha-synchrony between the PFC and amygdala during the late stage of processing happy faces Remarkably, following deep brain stimulation targeting key depression network nodes, the TRD group's abnormal neural dynamics shifted to resemble the control group more closely, particularly for happy face processing. This study provides exceptional insight into the neural circuitry underlying the negative bias in TRD and how neuromodulation may help normalize emotional processing. The findings have significant implications for advancing our understanding of depression pathophysiology and innovating more effective, targeted treatments for this debilitating disorder. We applaud this brilliant research team for this groundbreaking work and are proud that our leading-edge neurotechnology played a key role in this discovery. Read the full paper in Nature Portfolio: https://lnkd.in/gUwcXcSk #Neurotech #MentalHealthAwareness #Research #DBS #MDD #Neuroscience