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The Brain Electric: The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and Machines
The gripping and revelatory story of the dramatic race to merge the human brain with machines
Leading neuroscience researchers are racing to unlock the secrets of the mind. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, they are developing miraculous technologies that will enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs and will give all of us the power to manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for government and venture capital funding, prestige, and wealth.
Part life-altering cure, part science fiction, part Defense Department dream, these cutting-edge brain-computer interfaces promise to improve lives--but they also hold the potential to augment soldiers’ combat capabilities. In The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay follows the dramatic emergence of these technologies, taking us behind the scenes in operating rooms, startups, and research labs, where the future is unfolding. With access to many of the field’s top scientists, Gay illuminates this extraordinary race--where science, medicine, profit, and war converge--for the first time. But this isn’t just a story about technology. At the heart of the scientists’ research is a group of brave patient-volunteers, whose lives are given new meaning through these experiments. The Brain Electric asks us to rethink our relationship to technology, our bodies, even consciousness itself, challenging our assumptions about what it means to be human.
Leading neuroscience researchers are racing to unlock the secrets of the mind. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, they are developing miraculous technologies that will enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs and will give all of us the power to manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for government and venture capital funding, prestige, and wealth.
Part life-altering cure, part science fiction, part Defense Department dream, these cutting-edge brain-computer interfaces promise to improve lives--but they also hold the potential to augment soldiers’ combat capabilities. In The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay follows the dramatic emergence of these technologies, taking us behind the scenes in operating rooms, startups, and research labs, where the future is unfolding. With access to many of the field’s top scientists, Gay illuminates this extraordinary race--where science, medicine, profit, and war converge--for the first time. But this isn’t just a story about technology. At the heart of the scientists’ research is a group of brave patient-volunteers, whose lives are given new meaning through these experiments. The Brain Electric asks us to rethink our relationship to technology, our bodies, even consciousness itself, challenging our assumptions about what it means to be human.
282 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 14, 2015
“We understand very little of the brain’s most basic functioning, and its three pounds of neural tissue do not readily yield their secrets to the system of 1s and 0s Leuthardt and his cohorts would use to reveal its mysteries. And that’s to say nothing of the more basic biological problem researchers encounter when they try to join the hard stuff of electrodes to the squishy tissue of the brain”
The Brain Electric: The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and Machines is the first book by American journalist and author, Malcolm Gay. In this book he describes recent advances in neuroscience and the race to produce a marketable interface between brain and prosthetic limbs. Gay explores the myriad of technologies that need to be brought together and the teams of researchers working on different aspects of the problem. He delves into the history of prosthetic limbs and of brain research, describing the pioneers and the current big names in the field.
Although he makes every effort to describe the complex technology in layman’s terms, it is inevitable that some of the technical aspects will have readers’ eyes glazing over, but the sections that deal with experiments involving animals and human volunteers are quite engrossing. Especially interesting is the Jennifer Aniston neuron, but to find out just what that is (no, don’t be unkind, of course she has more than one), you will have to read the book.
Gay’s commentary on the politics of research, that various teams were “…involved in highly competitive and sometimes vituperative competition to move this technology forward” adds a bit of spice. The advances already made and the potential possibilities seem at the same time miraculous and frightening. He includes twelve pages of notes on his text and a comprehensive index.
He tells us: “The average human brain teems with some 100 billion neurons that collectively shimmer with electrochemical consciousness. No one knows how these three pounds of tissue and electricity, awash in a chemical bath of neurotransmitters, result in consciousness, but we do know that delicate yet routine tasks like pinching a few strands of saffron are in fact the collaborative result of thousands of individual neurons that speak to one another. Information moves like sheet lightning across the brain, forming transient patterns of activity that expand and recede as specific clusters of neurons spark other clusters into action” A fascinating read.
The Brain Electric: The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and Machines is the first book by American journalist and author, Malcolm Gay. In this book he describes recent advances in neuroscience and the race to produce a marketable interface between brain and prosthetic limbs. Gay explores the myriad of technologies that need to be brought together and the teams of researchers working on different aspects of the problem. He delves into the history of prosthetic limbs and of brain research, describing the pioneers and the current big names in the field.
Although he makes every effort to describe the complex technology in layman’s terms, it is inevitable that some of the technical aspects will have readers’ eyes glazing over, but the sections that deal with experiments involving animals and human volunteers are quite engrossing. Especially interesting is the Jennifer Aniston neuron, but to find out just what that is (no, don’t be unkind, of course she has more than one), you will have to read the book.
Gay’s commentary on the politics of research, that various teams were “…involved in highly competitive and sometimes vituperative competition to move this technology forward” adds a bit of spice. The advances already made and the potential possibilities seem at the same time miraculous and frightening. He includes twelve pages of notes on his text and a comprehensive index.
He tells us: “The average human brain teems with some 100 billion neurons that collectively shimmer with electrochemical consciousness. No one knows how these three pounds of tissue and electricity, awash in a chemical bath of neurotransmitters, result in consciousness, but we do know that delicate yet routine tasks like pinching a few strands of saffron are in fact the collaborative result of thousands of individual neurons that speak to one another. Information moves like sheet lightning across the brain, forming transient patterns of activity that expand and recede as specific clusters of neurons spark other clusters into action” A fascinating read.
December 17, 2016
Super interesting information presented terribly blandly.
March 11, 2016
Real-life science fiction, the story of the search to develop a brain-computer interface that will let us control things with our minds. The research is still in a very, very early stage. Largely funded by DARPA, researchers in the field have had some success.
There is clearly a lot of opportunity. Who knows what the next 100 years will bring? Given the flexibility of the brain, I see the technology changing the way we are wired to think.
Exciting new science! telepathy, mindmelds....
There is clearly a lot of opportunity. Who knows what the next 100 years will bring? Given the flexibility of the brain, I see the technology changing the way we are wired to think.
Exciting new science! telepathy, mindmelds....
May 14, 2019
Have you ever wished you could control things with your mind? It might be handy to change the tv channel or surf the web without lifting a finger, but not exactly ‘life altering’. That would not be the case with those who are paralyzed. For them, the ability to interact with the world could markedly improve their quality of life. The Brain Electric by Malcolm Gay, a reporter for the Boston Globe, is about the current state of technology of brain/computer interfaces (or BCIs).
So … if you want to control stuff with your mind, you have to extract a signal from inside your skull. There are two primary ways to do this:
1. You could wear a cap with electrodes in an attempt to detect brain activity.
2. You could implant electrodes directly into the brain.
The problem with #1 is that the skull attenuates any brain signal, making fine, multi-dimensional control impossible.
The problem with #2 is that the brain doesn’t like foreign objects embedded in it, and electrodes become encapsulated over the course of about a year rendering them useless.
The book focuses on #2, but after millions of dollars spent on research, and the abuse of thousands of lab animals, the technology is a failure. It’s not in wide use and no commercial products have been developed. The Brain Electric is a book about a technology that once seemed promising, but that has failed to deliver in any significant way. That’s really all there is to say about it, but Gay drags out the topic for hundreds of pages.
Much like BCI technology has proven to be, the book is largely a waste of time.
So … if you want to control stuff with your mind, you have to extract a signal from inside your skull. There are two primary ways to do this:
1. You could wear a cap with electrodes in an attempt to detect brain activity.
2. You could implant electrodes directly into the brain.
The problem with #1 is that the skull attenuates any brain signal, making fine, multi-dimensional control impossible.
The problem with #2 is that the brain doesn’t like foreign objects embedded in it, and electrodes become encapsulated over the course of about a year rendering them useless.
The book focuses on #2, but after millions of dollars spent on research, and the abuse of thousands of lab animals, the technology is a failure. It’s not in wide use and no commercial products have been developed. The Brain Electric is a book about a technology that once seemed promising, but that has failed to deliver in any significant way. That’s really all there is to say about it, but Gay drags out the topic for hundreds of pages.
Much like BCI technology has proven to be, the book is largely a waste of time.
April 9, 2018
Pretty interesting read and a very interesting topic. I appreciated learning some of the history of brain-computer interfaces though I wish there had been a bit more on plans for the future. I also found the layout of the book a little confusing.. it jumped around in time a lot and I would've found it easier to follow if it was just chronological... although in that case I'd probably complain that it was kinda boring. Dunno. The writing style was pretty good, easily flowing between big picture and describing specific moments in the lab, all while interjecting quotes throughout. I could've done with more humor but what was in there was nice. The narrator of the audiobook did not appeal to me, and that may have biased my opinion of the book as a whole. I did learn some stuff -- mainly history of robotic arms and brain control through computers, but doubt I will retain much of it long term. What did strike me as particularly clever though was researchers taking advantage of surgically-installed neural implants for recording brain activity after the first surgery in a series of two to cure seizure patients. The teams need to do this anyway to localize the seizure-inducing part of the brain so they just allow other researchers to take advantage of the situation to run additional tests and measure responses in live humans. The second surgery removes the implants and the problem part of the brain.
June 26, 2022
An entertaining popular science foray into new neurotechnologies—primarily those involving artificial limbs controlled by a user’s brain.
Some early chapters which chronicle the ups and downs of any new, rapidly-growing industry (in-fighting for a scarce amount of resources like funding and participants; the premature trumpetings of minor successes; the callous indifference of preferential funding) feel a bit tedious.
However, the later chapters (beefed up by the informal notes) provide due recognition for some gateway reads by neuroscientists and working professionals—if you’re looking for a quick little read, this could be it.
The real joy in this one (for me) will be reading many of the books that assisted Malcolm Gay in his understanding of (and writing about) neuroscience and neurotechnology.
Some early chapters which chronicle the ups and downs of any new, rapidly-growing industry (in-fighting for a scarce amount of resources like funding and participants; the premature trumpetings of minor successes; the callous indifference of preferential funding) feel a bit tedious.
However, the later chapters (beefed up by the informal notes) provide due recognition for some gateway reads by neuroscientists and working professionals—if you’re looking for a quick little read, this could be it.
The real joy in this one (for me) will be reading many of the books that assisted Malcolm Gay in his understanding of (and writing about) neuroscience and neurotechnology.
May 26, 2020
A great review of the history and current state of brain-computer interfacing, particularly focusing on ECoG-based methods. All of the important researchers are here, though the book was published before recent competitors like Neuralink entered the field. This book is a good overview for anybody interested in the field.
October 16, 2020
As someone who knew nothing about the field of brain computer interfaces, I thought it was very interesting topical reading to understand the cutting edge stuff going on. People with more familiarity may find it superficial and lacking in specifics or details though.
October 1, 2017
A solid but slow and somewhat plodding overview of recent developments in brain-computer interfaces.
June 4, 2018
Informational about the history and developments and personalities in Neuroscience - Schwartz, Donoghue, Nicolelis.
August 18, 2020
Starts slow, but gets better in the end.
April 15, 2021
Good stories on the beginnings of brain machine interfaces. A newer book would be great in this rapidly evolving field.
January 3, 2023
interesting concepts and patient stories but presented in a way that is generally unpleasant to read
March 22, 2017
Good & Weird. Lots of monkeys.
February 20, 2016
This review is for the Audible version of the book.
The material could have been deathly full in the hands of another writer and narrator. The combination of the two resulted in anything but boring. The explanations of each child concept, medical and/or research tool, and controversies were clearly explained. The research subjects courage is graphically displayed, as are the motivations, envies, and frustrations of the researchers.
Sometimes, the accents seemed a bit forced, and I would have given it five stars but for the subject matter. Unlike a biography of a great person or a history of a particular time, I'm not sure if I want to hear all of this again.
The material could have been deathly full in the hands of another writer and narrator. The combination of the two resulted in anything but boring. The explanations of each child concept, medical and/or research tool, and controversies were clearly explained. The research subjects courage is graphically displayed, as are the motivations, envies, and frustrations of the researchers.
Sometimes, the accents seemed a bit forced, and I would have given it five stars but for the subject matter. Unlike a biography of a great person or a history of a particular time, I'm not sure if I want to hear all of this again.
November 2, 2016
The story of the race to merge science and medicine with the long term goal on linking the mind to machines. The applications are widespread, in particular the solutions that could be provided to the survivors of catastrophic injuries. I found the book slow at points and difficult to read. Normally the books on read on the mind in particular are more focussed on psychology. It may well be that I was a little to squeamish for a book of this nature.
July 13, 2016
Cool info and stories on what's going on in brain/computer interactions. There are still, though, a lot of slow points, and for some reason nearly every expert quoted here is compelled to use cuss words all of the time. I know plenty of dorky people who use cuss words. It's does not make them - nor anyone quoting them - cooler.
Read
March 7, 2016Nice overview of the work scientists are performing to help minds operate machines. Particularly with seizure disorder people and quadriplegics. Amazing what the brain can do...and all that we still don't know (including exactly how perception works).
Read
May 5, 2016This is a very interesting book about race to design a working BCI (brain computer interface. Malcom Gay discusses several cases in which some amazing progress has been made in enabling paraplegics to control objects through BCIs.
December 10, 2016
A good, current summary of the state of play of machine intelligence - fascinating reading. I'd score it higher if it had more depth - this is not a book that will stay in your library as a reference, but is a good window into the current AI race.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews