Pat Bennett, 68, once rode horses as an equestrian, jogged daily and worked in human resources, until a rare illness robbed her of her ability to speak in 2012.

But help is on the way thanks to four baby-aspirin-sized sensors implanted in her brain, part of a clinical trial at Stanford University.

The chips have helped Bennett communicate her thoughts directly from her mind to a computer monitor at a record-breaking 62 words per minute — over three times faster than the technology’s previous best.

Cognitive scientists and medical researchers outside Stanford are impressed as well.

One, Professor Philip Sabes at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies brain-machine interfaces and co-founded Elon Musk’s Neuralink, described the new study as a ‘big breakthrough.’

‘The performance in this paper is already at a level which many people who cannot speak would want, if the device were ready,’ Sabes told MIT Technology Review earlier this year, as the new Stanford research was still clearing peer review.  

‘People are going to want this,’ Sabes said.

The news comes just a few months after the FDA granted approval to Musk’s Neuralink, permitting the company to initiate human trials for its own competing brain-chip implant technology.

The Stanford results also follow efforts by the United Nations’ agency for science and culture (UNESCO) to develop proposals for how to regulate brain chip technology, which they worry could be abused for ‘neurosurveillance’ or even ‘forced re-education,’ threatening human rights worldwide.

For Bennett, however, this emerging research has been closer to miraculous than dystopian.

Since 2012, Bennett has struggled with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the same disease that took the life of Sandra Bullock’s partner Bryan Randall earlier this summer and famed physicist Stephen Hawking in 2018.  

Over the course of 26 sessions, each lasting about four hours, Bennett worked with an artificial-intelligence algorithm, helping to train the AI in how to identify which brain activity corresponds to 39 key phonemes, or sounds, used in spoken English.

Via the brain-sensor tech, which the Stanford researchers call an intracortical brain-computer interface (iBCI), Bennett would attempt to effectively communicate approximately 260 to 480 sentences per training session to the AI. 

The sentences were selected randomly from a large data set, SWITCHBOARD, sourced from a collection of telephone conversations collected by calculator-maker Texas Instruments for language research back in the 1990s.

The casual sentences included examples like, ‘I left right in the middle of it,’ and ‘It’s only been that way in the last five years.’

During sessions where the sentence options were held down to a 50-word vocabulary, Bennett and the Stanford team working with her were able to get the AI translator’s error rate down to 9.1 percent. 

When the vocabulary limit was expanded to 125,000 words, closer to the total number of English words in common use, the iCBI’s intended-speech AI had an uptick in its translation errors. The rate rose to 23.8 percent.  

While that error-rate leaves something to be desired, the researchers believed improvements could continue with more training and a wider interface, more implants in other words, interacting between the brain and the iBCI’s AI.

Already, the algorithm’s speed decoding thoughts to speech has bested all previous models three times over.  

The Stanford group’s iBCI was able to move at 62 words per minute, 3.4 times faster than the prior record-holder, and closer than ever to the natural rate of human conversation, 160 words per minute.

‘We’ve shown you can decode intended speech by recording activity from a very small area on the brain’s surface,’ according to Dr. Jaimie Henderson, the surgeon who performed the delicate installation of the iBCI electrodes onto the surface of Bennett’s brain.

Bennett, herself, personally testified to her own experience with the breakthrough results, writing via email that, ‘These initial results have proven the concept, and eventually technology will catch up to make it easily accessible to people who cannot speak.’ 

‘For those who are nonverbal, this means they can stay connected to the bigger world,’ Bennett wrote in an email supplied by Stanford, ‘perhaps continue to work, maintain friends and family relationships.’

Bennett had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease, over a decade ago.

ALS attacks the neurons in the body’s central nervous system that control movement, but Bennett’s own experience with the ailment was a particularly rare variety of the disease.

‘When you think of ALS, you think of arm and leg impact,’ Bennett said. ‘But in a group of ALS patients, it begins with speech difficulties. I am unable to speak.’

Dr. Henderson and his co-authors published the results of their work with Bennett in Nature this Wednesday.

For many Britons, a trip to the seaside just isn’t complete without a fresh portion of fish and chips. 

But the beloved dish could soon become a thing of the past, according to a new study. 

Researchers from the University of Essex claim Britons should ditch white, flaky fish like cod in favour of more local varieties, such as herring and mackerel.

Dr Anna Sturrock, senior author of the study, said: ‘In the face of climate change, global overfishing and potentially restrictive trade barriers, it is important that we promote locally sourced seafood and provide clearer guidance on non-seafood alternatives. 

‘Ultimately this will help meet national food security demands as well as health and environmental targets.’ 

In the study, the team analysed how major policy changes over the last 120 years have influenced patterns in UK seafood production, trade and consumption.  

Fish is one of the most traded foods in the world, and since the 1970s there’s been a rapid increase in the UK’s seafood imports, according to the team.

‘The increasing popularity of tuna, shrimps and prawns highlights how UK consumers have largely not changed their eating habits to reflect changes in local seafood availability over the years,’ said Dr Georg Engelhard, co-author of the study. 

Popular flaky, white fish such as cod and haddock is largely imported into the UK from other countries, the scientists say. 

Instead, the team suggests we should opt for species more common to our own waters. 

This includes herring and mackerel, which are currently largely exported to the Netherlands and France. 

Luke Harrison, who led the study, said: ‘Our research highlighted that policy changes in the mid-1970s, particularly the introduction of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and the UK joining the European Union, drove a growing mismatch between the seafood produced in the UK and what we ate domestically.

‘Exacerbated by stock declines caused by fishing, climate change and habitat loss, this growing disconnect far out-scales any previous mismatches between availability and consumption – including those seen during both world wars – and we have seen an increasing reliance on seafood imports and a decrease in domestic landings.’

The NHS recommends that a healthy, balanced diet should include at least two portions of fish a week, including one of oily fish. 

However, Britons currently eat 31 per cent less seafood than these guidelines, according to the study. 

The research comes shortly after scientists dished up the world’s first 3D-printed lab-grown fish, claiming it flakes and ‘melts in your mouth’ just like the real deal.

Cells were grown in a lab to create the futuristic grouper fillets, without the need to put further pressure on dwindling fish populations. 

In a matter of months, Israel-based Steakholder Foods hopes to bring its food to the market, allowing others to try the ‘world-class’ fish for themselves.

‘We are delighted to have produced the world’s first whole fillet cultivated fish in partnership with Steakholder Foods,’ said Mihir Pershad, CEO of Umami Meats which supplied the fish cells.

‘In this first tasting, we showcased a cultivated product that flakes, tastes, and melts in your mouth exactly like excellent fish should. In the coming months, we intend to announce our plans for bringing this world-class cultivated fish to the market.’

JAMES ASHTON: Can we cash in on microchips? UK is right to focus on its strengths such as design and materials, but it must afford the industry time

• Microchips have taken over the world 
• In 2021, supposedly riven with shortages, more than 1tn chips were installed 
• The most advanced chips are required to power artificial intelligence 

By James Ashton For The Daily Mail

Updated: 07:39 EDT, 29 May 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

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It sounds like the stuff of science fiction – but a company in Utah has already implanted brain chips in dozens of patients.

Blackrock Neurotech, based in Salt Lake City, has the grand ambition of treating physical paralysis, blindness, deafness and depression.

The chip — known as NeuroPort Array — allow people to control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games and even feel sensations.

It works by using nearly 100 microneedles that attach to the brain and read electrical signals produced by someone’s thoughts. More than three dozen people have so far received it.

The device was first implanted in a human in 2004. Company leaders hope to bring it to market soon, announcing in 2021 they aimed for the next year.

Tech mogul Elon Musk has also launched similar plans with Neurolink, an implantable device he hopes can help similar groups. 

Mr Musk’s initial plans were deterred by regulators earlier this year, who rejected a bid to trial his implant in humans.

‘We are the only company with direct-brain BCI implants in humans,’ Marcus Gerhardt, Blackrock’s co-founder, told DailyMail.com.

‘Our implantable arrays have enabled people to connect directly to computers, control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games, even regain sensation – with just their brain signals.

Blackrock’s technology uses an implantable microchip that has 96 arrays — small needle-shaped brain chips that can read and stimulate electrical signals. 

It can be placed anywhere on the brain’s surface. Multiple devices can be placed on the same person’s brain.

After implantation, the chip detects electrical signals generated by the wearer’s thoughts.

Machine learning software decodes these signals into digital commands such as cursor movements, which can be used to control prosthetics and computer equipment.

This can help a person draw using a robotic arm, use computer programs or control a wheelchair or prosthetic limb. 

But the company is now seeking FDA approval for devices built for use outside the lab, to be used at home by people with paralysis.

Gerhardt said: ‘We are pursuing regulatory approval of the world’s first-ever BCI designed specifically for at-home use: MoveAgain.

‘This medical device aims to increase independence and mobility, and ultimately, quality of life, for people with paralysis.’

He hopes that BCIs will become as ubiquitous for paralyzed patients as pacemakers  for people with heart issues.

He continued: ‘Once home-use BCIs are available, they’ll help people build new lives that may have seemed impossible following their disability; we think we’ll see people return to work, establish greater independence, and engage with the world in powerful new ways.

‘Our long-term vision is that our implants will become as readily available to people with paralysis as pacemakers are for people with heart issues.’

The company is already developing brain-computer interfaces to restore hearing and vision.

Mr Gerhardt said: ‘As the technology continues to advance, we’ll see BCIs with indications for memory and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.’

It has been used on more than three dozen people who Blackrock, which has no relation to the asset management firm, refers to as ‘BCI pioneers’.

The device has been implanted in patients for a combined 80 years without any reports of serious adverse effects.

However, the device does have some pitfalls. The arrays on the implant slowly break down over time, causing its signal quality to degrade after around two years.

The device has typically needed to be removed after around five years, though this has varied from patient to patient, requiring another surgery to take it out and then replace it.

Nathan Copeland has had a BCI for eight years and uses his BCI to create art with a robotic arm as well as play video games.

He is even able to feed himself, recently showing off his ability to eat a Taco Bell Cheesy Gordito Crunch using a robot arm controlled by his brain. 

Mr Copeland’s art is now on display at The BCI Exhibit at AAAS in Washington DC.

Mr Gerhardt said: ‘When it comes to art, Nathan’s medium of choice is MS Paint or GIMP, but James Johnson is the most proficient BCI Photoshop user we’ve seen.

‘Before James became paralyzed, he had a small business doing photo manipulations for clients. 

‘Using his BCI, he has been able to get back to using Photoshop in the lab, and some of his artwork is on display at The BCI Exhibit, as well.’

Mr Gerhardt says that Blackrock first implanted a BCI in 2004, but initially focused on research rather than seeking publicity. 

‘As a company, we’ve also taken a much more active role in stepping out from behind the curtain and helping enthusiastic patients tell their stories,’ he said.

‘Once patients have access to these devices outside the lab, I think we’ll really see an increase in public interest.

‘The sky’s the limit for what BCIs will be able to do in the future.’

Mr Gerhardt believes that the technology could be used in the future to deal with everything from restoring lost memories to PTSD to depression.

‘For instance, with depression, BCI could show promise for modulating neural activity in the regions of the brain that are involved in mood regulation,’ he said.

‘When it comes to disorders like depression or PTSD, spatially and temporally focused electrical or magnetic stimulation of neural tissue could help disrupt or reprogram firing patterns that lead to the disorder.’

The data could also lead to new understanding of conditions such as depression – and how they are diagnosed and treated.

In the long term, BCI technology could be used to restore lost memories.

Gerhardt says, ‘Memory is a complex phenomenon, but advanced implantable BCI technologies can potentially use targeted electrical recording and stimulation of individual neurons and circuits to help restore some of the functionality associated with memory formation and retrieval. 

‘It’s possible that BCI technology could also record the patterns associated with specific memories and recreate them as needed.’