Mark Zuckerberg sold Facebook shares in order to develop a brain implant

Not so long ago, Mark Zuckerberg sold Facebook sharesworth $ 30 million. Then someone even thought that the founder of Facebook wants to move away from managing his own company. However, now it became clear why this was done. Mr. Zuckerberg needed money to finance a very ambitious project called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which aims to develop brain implants for the treatment of certain diseases.

One aspect of CZI involves the development ofa brain-machine interface. That is, a device that translates thoughts into commands. This is a wireless brain implant that can record, stimulate and control movement in real time. According to the editors of Nature magazine, a team of scientists working in this program managed to create a similar device and implant it in the brain of a primate. Scientists themselves call this intervention "therapy" because it is intended to treat diseases such as epilepsy or Parkinson's disease.

“Our device is able to control the brainprimacy. ”said co-author of the work, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California Ricky Muller. “The use of brain-machine interfaces has far-reaching consequences: while some researchers focus on their use to help people with spinal cord injuries or other diseases that affect movement, we want this interaction to be reminiscent of working with laptops and smartphones . ”

The device itself is called Cortera. And during the experiment, the animal had to move the cursor to the target on the screen with the joystick and hold it there for a certain period of time. At the top of the monkey’s head at this time was a palm-sized wireless device connected directly to her brain. The gadget could record, stimulate and change the behavior of the monkey in real time.

“Right now we can take a certainmotor function, find out how it works and even control it. I believe that this device opens up opportunities for new types of treatment. ”Said Professor Mueller in an interview with Business Insider.

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