Elon Musk’s Neuralink Proclaimed Cure to Many Neurological Disorders

Shiva Gopal Vasishta
3 min readMay 13, 2020

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The human brain impacts everything we do. From the time we wake up to when we fall asleep, our brains determine what we do and say in addition to how we behave. Neurology studies the way the brain works and how it affects the rest of our body, and it explores how neurological disorders impact our lives in ways we might not expect.

Founded by Elon Musk, Neuralink Corporation is the creator of Neuralink. Neuralink is a brain-interface device that connects to your brain and alters the signals of your neurotransmitters. In theory, this device can improve coordination and help people with spinal injuries to walk again. Although such devices might seem like something you would read about in science fiction, it may become reality much sooner than we think.

How Neuralink Works

Neuralink sits inside your skull and connects to your brain with wires that are a lot smaller than a human hair. The device then controls the messages your brain sends to neurotransmitters and other parts of your body. Those who suffer from spinal injuries have trouble moving because their brain’s neural connections are damaged and unable to communicate. Neuralink purports to restore those connections and allows people to regain their mobility.

Neuralink Insertion

Neuralink is a small microchip that’s around the size of a penny in length. When someone opts to have the device installed, surgeons make a small incision in the skull. Although surgeons remove a piece of the skull to insert the device, the wires are too small for humans to manipulate.

They overcome that problem by using a robot to connect the wires to the brain, and the surgeons then put the piece of the skull back in place and stitch the wound. A small scar is the only thing that remains after the procedure, and you can easily cover it by growing your hair.

Projected Neuralink Timeline

Elon Musk hopes to begin using Neuralink to treat patients in less than one year, and he hopes to create a full brain interface within 25 years. A full brain interface would connect to your brain and control every signal sent by your neurotransmitters. The goal is to treat every disease caused by neurological disorders and restore patients to full health.

Since conditions in the brain cause mood disorders, a brain-interface device has the potential to eliminate depression, anxiety, and other similar conditions. It can manipulate each signal the brain produces, and it could block or create its own signals depending on the goal of the user. This technology will forever change the way we think about our brains and the way they relate to the world around us. Neuralink Corporation tried to open an animal testing center in 2018.

Additional Implications

Elon Musk hopes Neuralink will do much more than cure common neurological disorders within the next five to 10 years. He believes that his technology will soon increase memory and overall brain performance, but he also plans to let Neuralink connect people to the devices around them.

Musk anticipates that Neuralink will lead to a universal language among all people before the end of the decade. Neuralink can also enable people to communicate with each other without speaking, a form of synthetic telepathy. The technology created by Musk offers a variety of clear benefits that could improve the quality of life for many people. It is, however, essential to consider what could happen if this technology fell into the wrong hands.

Final Thoughts

Neuralink is a new device invented by Elon Musk’s team at Neuralink Corporation that, if successful, could turn the field of neurology on its head. Once implanted into the brain, it promises to cure virtually all neurological disorders and to restore humans to full health. In addition to curing many diseases that impact the brain, the device also aims to improve memory and other brain functions.

If Musk is successful with the device and its release, Neuralink will connect people and machines to effectively enable synthetic telepathy. This technology may do amazing things for people, improving their health in ways than we once thought impossible.

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Shiva Gopal Vasishta

Shiva Gopal Vasishta, MD is a practicing Neurologist in Voorhees, NJ.