@neuroengineering.bsky.social
Your (non-addictive) dose of neurotechnology news π§ β‘οΈ
German BCI startup CorTec announces first in-human use of a fully implanted ECoG grid π©πͺπ§
The Seattle-based trial, led by Jeffrey Ojemann (U Washington) and Steven Cramer (UCLA), tests if cortical stimulation can aid upper limb recovery of stroke patients.
#neuroskyence #neuropapers
Neuralink update π§
- P8 and P9 have been implanted within one day
- 20 participants are expected by the end of 2025
- Bloomberg estimates $1B revenue by 2031, generously assuming 20k implantees
Meta published their EMG wristband in Nature π
They developed a non-invasive neuromotor interface using a wrist-worn device for decoding gestures and handwriting. Its performance scales with the number of participants and can be further enhanced through personalized user tuning.
#Neuropapers #CTRL
Nudge just secured $100M Series A funding π°
The company is developing whole-brain ultrasound interfaces to target psychiatric and cognitive disorders. They plan to enhance the Nudge Zero and validate its impact through clinical studies.
Great to see more BCI developments in asia!
04.07.2025 12:55 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Ripples segment experiences during natural viewing
Scientists observed hippocampal ripples peak at event boundaries of movie scenes. Meanwhile, ripples in temporal cortex rise within events and predict which moments will be remembered. These fast oscillations seem to support memory formation.
How do central brain areas work together to create movement?
New work from the Courtine lab showed that premotor areas encode movement plans (the why), while primary motor and somatosensory cortices handle execution (the how). Control flows through low-dimensional subspaces from plan to action.
π§ πΉοΈ Neuralink just shared an update:
- 7 participants implanted (SCI & ALS)
- Hand-knob area for now, speech motor cortex later this year
- First vision BCI in 2026 with deeper threads (5cm/2inch)
- 10k channels in 2027
- Full-brain coverage in 2028 for psychiatric diseases, epilepsy and pain
Scientists invented contact lenses that let you see infrared light π‘
These special lenses use embedded nanoparticles to shift near-infrared light into the visible spectrum. With them, people can detect shapes, flashes, and even color patterns - even with their eyes closed.
Neuropixel NHP 1.0 has just been published in Nature Neuroscience.
The new probe, designed specifically for non-human primates, features an electrode array with roughly 4000 sites over 4.5β―mm, 384 of which can be recorded simultaneously. The study details its design, fabrication, and performance.
Stavisky & Brandman published their speech prosthesis in Nature π£οΈπ§
They demonstrate streaming speech synthesis with a latency of only 50β―ms in a man with ALS. The system captures paralinguistic features like pitch, intonation, and word emphasis - bringing BCI communication closer to natural speech.
Great to see an invasive BCI network developing in Europe!
15.06.2025 09:06 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
How does the brain find the right words?
Scientists identified two key language networks through 48 ECoG recordings. Semantic meaning is integrated in the IFG and MFG, while speech movements are planned in the IFG and precentral gyrus. Both networks work together to support word retrieval.
What if you could implant electrodes in the developing brain, so it grows around them?
Researchers at Harvard implanted Axoftβs soft bioelectronics onto the neural plate β an early sheet of stem cells. As the brain grows and folds, the electronics became embedded within it.
Paradromics just completed its first in-human clinical trial.
The procedure took place at the university of michigan in collaboration with @matthewwillsey.bsky.social. An epilepsy patient undergoing surgery was implanted with the device to prove safety.
Meet us at the #BCI25 meeting by the @bcisociety.bsky.social in Banff, Canada, this week! π§
We have a poster on tuesday afternoon and are looking forward to connect with new and familiar colleagues!
https://ai.meta.com/research/publications/emergence-of-language-in-the-developing-brain/
Emergence of language in the developing brain π§ π£οΈ
Scientists recorded intracranial activity from 46 children aged 2β18 as they listened to The Little Prince. Toddlers showed phonetic encoding in the superior temporal gyrus, while word-level meaning emerged later in associative cortices.
ONWARD Medical implanted two more spinal cord injury patients with their ARC-BCI system.
A 48-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman received the ECoG implants in Lausanne earlier this year - totaling five participants overall for the study.
Flexible brainstem implant enables high-resolution hearing in macaques
A soft, multichannel implant targeting the cochlear nucleus
produced precise, frequency-specific brain responses (ECoG) and clear behavioral reactions
Closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation boosts recovery after spinal cord injury π§ β‘οΈ
Real-time stimulation during rehab was guided by non-invasive external movement sensors. This approach enhanced arm and hand function by fostering synaptic plasticity and supporting meaningful recovery.
Pain states can be decoded from low-frequency activity in deep and cortical brain regions, as well as from facial expressions π
Using iEEG, videos, and self-reports, scientists tracked pain in natural settings. Pain was found to be decodable (up to 75% accuracy), even during brief acute moments.
Scientists just created a new color - and only 5 study participants have seen it so far π΄π’π΅
By selectively stimulating M-cone cells in the retina with a high precision laser, participants perceived a unique color described as blue-green with unprecedented saturation.
Speech motor cortex enables cursor control. Researchers at UC Davis showed that signals from ventral motor cortex, traditionally used for speech BCIs, can also enable fast, accurate cursor control and independent computer use for individuals with ALS.
06.05.2025 06:45 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Object-like sensations can be evoked through intracortical microstimulation. Using self-guided selection of multielectrode stimulation patterns, participants created distinct tactile percepts linked to virtual objects. Both humans and algorithms could reliably identify the associated patterns.
01.05.2025 21:18 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Human spiking activity can be modulated by theta burst stimulation (TBS) to the amygdala. TBS has been shown to alter memory performance and change firing in ~30% of neurons across the hippocampus, amygdala, OFC, and ACC, revealing how targeted stimulation shapes cognitive circuits.
23.04.2025 05:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Stanford Neurosurgery has just been awarded a $30M grant to develop neurotech solutions for aphasia. The neural prosthetics translational lab (NPTL, Henderson & Willett) therefore received $10M in funding to develop a closed-loop BCI for speech restoration in aphasic stroke patients.
18.04.2025 07:54 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Science Corp., founded by Max Hodak, just raised $104 million in a new funding round. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, a VC firm known for backing medical AI companies like Synchron, Kernel, and Flow Neuroscience.
16.04.2025 05:33 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) synchronize with cortical theta rhythms during speech. Speech errors were found to occur when spike-phase coupling was delayedβhighlighting the role of precise STN-cortex interactions in fluent production.
13.04.2025 10:34 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Nudge unveiled a non-invasive ultrasound brain interface that targets deep brain regions with millimeter precision. Using a high-channel phased-array system, it can modulate areas like the thalamus to treat addiction and pain - and eventually enhance everyday cognition.
nudge.com/blog/about/
