The notion of brain implants has now become one of the most relevant and recent subjects of a heated discussion in terms of the technology’s risks and benefits for the human body and cognition. One of the most recent discoveries in the sphere of brain implant experiments has shown the technology’s ability to detect and relieve pain in various symptoms and cognitive disorders with no medication interference (“Brain Implant Shows Pain-Relieving Ability in Mice”).
Thus, according to the researchers, the technology known as closed-loop pain-machine detects pain signals in the special part of the cortex and immediately triggers therapeutic stimulation in the other brain part in order to relieve the pain (Haridy). Currently, along with a variety of experiments revolving around brain implants, the study has been conducted exclusively on rodents. Although such a trial may be considered irrelevant in terms of its potential application to the human brain, high efficiency levels secure the researcher’s further interactions with a pain-relieving technology.
Currently, the future of the closed-loop pain-machine is rather unclear. According to the researchers, the technology itself faces two major dilemmas: the ethical consideration of brain implantation and translating the idea to an actual human brain (Haridy).
However, even despite the existing discrepancies, the overall research provides a platform for potential studies of brain implants and ethical ways to introduce the technology to people who are still not ready to interact so closely with machinery. Qiaosheng Zhang, the leading research investigator, agrees with the need to conduct more research that takes into account the increased complexity of the human brain, yet he believes that the recent finding provides hypothetical value to the potential treatment of both pain and psychiatric disorders (“Brain Implant Shows Pain-Relieving Ability in Mice”). Thus, the introduction of such a technology is, by all means, revolutionary in the context of cognitive research and the future of human brain function.
Works Cited
“Brain Implant Shows Pain-Relieving Ability in Mice.” Neuroscience from Technology Networks, 2021. Web.
Haridy, Rich. “Experimental Brain Implant Instantly Detects and Relieves Pain.” New Atlas, 2021. Web.