Telepathy isn’t as Fictional as You Think — Introduction to BCIs
Introduction
If I were to tell you that you could send a friend a text or schedule an appointment just by thinking about it, you might look at me funny.
The idea that you could interact with the world head-on(literally) and hands-free seems more like an interesting sci-fi movie idea rather than an actual reality.
But with the era of modern technologies, Brain Computer Interfaces(BCIs) have gotten everyone’s attention. This type of technology could lead us into a future where our minds and technology go hand-in-hand.
What is a BCI?
A Brain Computer Interface is a system that receives brain signals, and determines some external action to do, whether that be to control a prosthetic arm or even play a video game. It is similar to telling a computer to do something based on a mouse click or key pressed, but instead, the input is not pushing a button, but rather your brainwaves.
How do they work?
Let’s break this down starting with the basics. The nervous system(which controls your movements, thought processes, balance, etc.) has a Central Nervous System(CNS) and a Peripheral Nervous System(PNS). The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord, and controls the functions that happen in the body. The PNS contains nerves that branch out from the CNS and connect to different body parts(eg. limbs, organs, etc.). Nerves are collections of many smaller signal transmitting cells, called neurons. Check out the following image below of a neuron:
Any time your body interacts with an external environment, it is constantly taking in information from the five senses. This information is sent through the form of sequences of signals, that pass through the neurons, and the dendrites receive input from these signals. That signal passes through the axon across the myelin sheath, an insulation for the nerve that makes the electrical impulse signal travel efficiently. Two neurons that connect to send signals create a synapse. These synapses release neurotransmitters, a resulting chemical after connection, and increased sodium ions, causing depolarization and increasing the membrane voltage. These rapid firings of neurons at different locations of the brain create a oscillations of brains waves that are used to communicate information from one area of the brain to another. The measurement of the change in voltage is called postsynaptic potential, and this change in voltage also can lead to the firing of a new impulse.
Check out the following link if you want to learn more about the science behind brain waves 👇
https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain-basics/brain/brain-physiology/action-potentials-and-synapses
Now that it is understood how brain waves are created, how can we detect these waves? The answer to that question is found within the abbreviation EEG(which stands for Electroencephalography). EEG provides a means of recording information of electrical activity in the brain, through the placement of harmless electrodes(insulating metal disks) on your scalp.
Before delving deeper, let’s review some different parts of the brain and what role they play in our nervous system. First off is the brain stem, which controls basic movements with our arms and legs, which is an aspect of the brain we share with many other species. More complex thinking transpires in the cerebrum, which has but is not limited to two important parts that help distinguish ourselves from other species with less cognitive ability. The first is the frontal lobe, which is responsible for function such as problem-solving, memory, speaking and language skills, and interpretation. The second part, which functions differently compared to the frontal lobe, is the parietal lobe, which is important for understanding the world as we see it, and visual-spatial recognition.
Great! So we can just measure brainwaves from where they are traveling to using and EEG, now we can read minds, right? That’s not really the case, and here in lies the catch to this revolutionary concept of electroencephalography; EEGs can’t read specific brainwaves, but are rather only able to detect when the brain activity is happening.
Are there better ways?
The short answer: yes. Limitations with EEGs have increased the motives to create new methods to better understand, detect, and interpret brain waves.
Before reinventing the wheel, let’s see how researchers have tried to make the wheel more efficient. Neurable, a start-up by Ramses Alcaide, incorporates BCIs with Virtual Reality has taken a different approach using EEGs, creating a real-time VR environment where everything can be controlled by the mind. Although there is a lot of noise that blocks the brain signals when using dry EEG sensors, machine learning algorithms make interpreting a lot of the brain signals with a better focus, such that it can train with data and the full scale model can tell based on your brainwaves what you are focused on.
To read more about Neurable’s VR x BCI Tech, check out the following link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/27/technology/thought-control-virtual-reality.html
Takeaways
- Brain Computer Interfaces(BCIs) can read brain signals and perform some action based on that information
- It gets reads brainwaves based on how neurons/nerve cells in the brain interact with each other
- Electroencephalography(EEG) is a device that goes on the scalp to record brainwaves
- EEG readings can’t give us specifics, so other BCIs and methods can be used to utilize our brain waves
(P.S. I’m posting an article soon about EEG sensors going deeper into Neurable, so keep on a lookout for that 👀)
My name is Ankit Nakhawa, I’m a 15 year old passionate about BCIs and AI. If you want to ask a question, talk to me about this article, or anything else, you can contact me at ankitnakhawa@gmail.com, or on LinkedIn, I’d love to hear from you!
Feel free to check out some of my other articles!
