{"id":5227,"date":"2014-12-18T17:20:06","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T00:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackrockneurotech.com\/?p=5227"},"modified":"2025-11-12T14:53:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:53:48","slug":"new-brain-implant-tech-from-blackrock-is-making-mind-over-matter-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackrockneurotech.com\/insights\/new-brain-implant-tech-from-blackrock-is-making-mind-over-matter-a-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme Tech | New Brain Implant Tech from Blackrock is Making \u2018Mind Over Matter\u2019 a Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Brain Implant Tech from Blackrock is Making \u2018Mind Over Matter\u2019 a Reality<\/a><\/h1>\n
By John Hewitt<\/span> for Extreme Tech<\/span><\/h6>\n
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18 December 2014<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Jan<\/p>\n

In 2012 quadriplegic Jan Scheuermann had two electrode arrays implanted in her brain\u2019s left motor cortex. Within a week, she could use the implant to move a prosthetic arm in all three dimensions, and move its wrist in an additional four. That was good enough for her to use it to feed herself with the arm, and good enough to make her a national celebrity<\/a>. Researchers from the University of Pittsburg have now been able to finesse an additional three degrees of freedom out of an improved implant-to-arm pipeline by swapping in additional finger motions where previously Jan had only a crude pincer grip.<\/p>\n

It is hard to underestimate the difficulty, and therefore value, of making advances like this to the field of brain-computer interfaces or BCIs. Mapping specific functions to specific places has generally proven difficult. We know, for example, that with crude TMS stimulation<\/a>, the most reliable response obtained for activating an cortical motor area discovered to date is a simple adduction of the thumb (bringing it back into the plane of the palm of the hand). In fact, that is precisely what is used as the reference point to calibrate the coil\u2019s position and power. It is no surprise then that researchers have now been able to add more subtle thumb control to the existing suite of prosthetic powers.<\/p>\n