Neuralink’s First Patient Can Control Mouse With His Thoughts

Date: February 21, 2024

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has achieved an impressive breakthrough. The first patient of Neuralink has fully recovered and can now control a mouse with their thoughts.

We all dream of getting at least one superpower in our name. Whether it is flying freely or controlling things with your mind, the urge to be able to do something beyond the ordinary is on almost every person’s wishlist. While we know that miracles cannot happen in the real world, Elon Musk has achieved a breakthrough that can make one aspect of it come true.

In its recent achievement, Neuralink has successfully completed the invasive operation of its first patient. The patient is recovering at a healthy pace and can now control the functions of a mouse just with his thoughts. The US FDA gave a green signal to Neuralink for human clinical trials in May 2023. Even though the game-changing breakthrough is small in real-world execution, it can open doors to a completely new medical treatment landscape. With confirmation of the wireless device’s capability, the research team can fast-track its development in multiple aspects.

"Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of. The patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking," said Musk on social media platform X.

The seasoned entrepreneur launches Neuralink, a brain-computer allowing users to control things with thoughts. The mode of connection is not telepathy but an accurate interpretation of thoughts that the computer captures and sends to the receiving devices. The other-worldly invention comes from Elon Musk’s vision of creating an app that can control computers with just thoughts. Neuralink is on a mission to create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.

While you are thinking of adding this superpower to your arsenal, the actual real-world benefit Neuralink aims to provide is for the physically impaired. People suffering from ailments that cause paralysis or involuntary movements can easily navigate through life without caregivers’ intervention. 

The risks associated with a brain-computer are yet to be analyzed, which makes the commercial availability of a refined product too far away from now. Considering Elon Musk’s prior projects, Neuralink can become publicly available much sooner.