[MURG] Uploading via memory implants?

[Eugen Leitl]

On Mon, Nov 29, 2004 at 01:06:08PM -0500, Thomas Weber wrote:

> A year or so ago we had discussed a possibility of
> building a brain - computer interface. What I imagined
> that time was an electrode array just as ilustrated on
>  www.cyberkineticsinc.com. It is called 
> Acute Multi Electrode Array. I agree with you that as
> small as it is shown it would handle only a small
> insufficient percentage of neurons. My question to you

The brain is a volume, your array is a surface.

> is what do you think would happen if an electrode
> array was built to cover almost the entire cortex like

Ah, an armchair neurosurgeon. Do you realize that the brain has the
consistency of a jelly, is encased in dura mater, and is 
semifloating in liquor?

> a beret? That time your objection was that the folded
> in sections of the brain surface would be missed.

You would be missing the entire volume.

> That would still leave some 50% of the cortex in
> contact with the electrode array. Suppose we also had
> a computer system capable to receive and process the
> information from the electrode array.
> What do you think would happen if a person was wired
> like that?

You had a heck of an I/O interface, and could record really detailed activity
patterns.

What did you think would happen?

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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