(introductory music)

The brain is probably

the most sophisticated processor in the universe.

Often people with paralysis will have a brain

that is fully functional and the reason they're unable

to move is because the cable that carries the information

from their brain to their body is cut.

What we're trying to do is build a device

called BrainGate.

And BrainGate is actually a physical bridge

that connects the outside world back to the data

that's trapped inside the brain.

The whole history of Neuroscience

is tied up in being able to create

a brain-machine interface.

The big problem, really, for us,

although there are many challenges,

is to be able to make sense of all of that information

that's coming out of the brain.

Now the stuff that comes out is really complicated,

and this is where the science of massive data

is really critical to us.

Each little neuron, each little brain cell

emits a tiny electrical impulse

and it's sort of a dit dit dit dit impulse kind of signal.

So the code that comes out is effectively

like a Morse code.

We can code say, I want to move left or I wanna move right.

We use a baby aspirin size chip

that has 100 hair thin electrodes

that get implanted in the brain.

All the bone and skin is closed,

leaving only a connector about the size of a penny

that sticks through the skin.

Which is where we attach and get the signals

from the brain.

So if we could understand everything about the brain,

what impact would it have?

When you understand the brain,

you have access to that person's consciousness

I mean if you know every thought and feeling

and desire and dream,

is that the person?

It's not about the technology,

it's about the way people use it.

This isn't wacky science fiction.

In 2006, Matthew Nagle was the first person to have a

BrainGate system.

And here's Matthew using BrainGate to play a video game.

We even hooked him up to a mechanical, motorized hand.

He hadn't controlled anything in more than two years

at that point.

He looked down, he went, Open.

The hand opened and he went, Holy shit.

(laughs)

That was a wonderful moment with him.

It truly showed, even though it didn't really do

anything important, it was a demonstration that

small things for people who are otherwise

fully incapacitated, is really a big advance.

We who are able-bodied, forget that a lot of our dignity

is tied up in being able to do things for ourselves.

I had a degenerative bone disease as a child

so I spent sometime in a wheelchair with a brace.

It did give me a little flavor

of what it's like to be limited in mobility.

The essence of our humanity is taxed by

that kind of life.

We're doing sort of the first steps in restoring dignity,

going from being able to do nothing

to being able to do something.

One of the more rewarding aspects of this

is working with these extraordinary people

who have really overcome tremendous adversity,

have a strong will to go on

and do things in their lives.

This processing in our brain that occurs

is some kind of computation that we don't understand.

And that is maybe one of the greatest puzzles

that's ever confronted us.

(peaceful music)

(dramatic uplifting music)