Once considered a crazy idea, but now, scientists have proven that it is possible to connect the brain to a computer.

Research that seemed can only be in science fiction movies has become a reality. From now, humans can control computers just perform their thoughts.

According to Mashable, scientists have for the first time created a system that wirelessly connects the human brain and computer. Research conducted by Brown University, USA is hoped to be a breakthrough for the potential development of polio patients.

The system, called BrainGate, establishes “broadband single-neuron resolution wireless communications,” via a simple overhead transmitter.

The results, published in the journal IEEE Trans Transaction on Biomedical Engineering, show that the system, after being used by two 35 and 63-year-old men who were paralyzed by spinal cord injuries, gave satisfactory results.

Polio victims will be the first group to benefit from the new study. Photo: BrainGate Team.

BrainGate works by connecting a user’s head-mounted transmitter to a computer. This transmitter consists of an electrode relay that passes through the skull, attached to the motor cortex. Due to that, the patient can control the mouse pointer, manipulate the computer through thinking.

In the test with the above 2 patients, they were able to continuously use the system for up to 24 hours at home with high performance. Previously, similar communications between the brain and the computer had only been done inside the laboratory.

“Signals are recorded and transmitted at high altitude… This wireless system works similarly to wired,” said John Simeral, lead author of the study.

“With no physical constraints, this design opens up new possibilities for how the system can be used,” he said. This also makes it possible for Covid-19 tests to be performed remotely.

This is considered a significant step forward in the field of neural communication when the human brain can connect directly to the computer.

Recently, a few prominent names in the technology industry such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have also expressed interest in similar types of technology.

In 2020, Elon Musk’s neurobiology company Neuralink introduced a pig Getrude with a computer chip implanted in the brain. In early 2021, the company continued to succeed in attaching chips to the brains of monkeys so that the animal could play games through thinking.