Miguel Nicolelis: Brain-to-brain communication has arrived. How we did it
Miguel Nicolelis: Ha llegado la comunicación cerebro a cerebro. ¿Cómo lo hicimos?
Miguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
precisamente a las 15:33
in São Paulo, Brazil,
en São Paulo, Brasil,
en América del Sur,
that you see celebrating here
que ven celebrando aquí
accomplished a magnificent deed.
hizo una proeza magnífica.
from mid-chest to the tip of his toes
hasta la punta de sus dedos de los pies
that killed his brother
un accidente automovilístico
that left Juliano in a wheelchair,
and on this day did something
de la ocasión y en ese día hizo algo
in the six years deemed impossible.
en estos 6 años, pensaban imposible.
World Soccer Cup here
needed to kick a ball.
necesarios para patear una pelota.
He's a para-athlete right now.
Ahora es para-atleta.
I hope, in a couple years.
esté en los Juegos Paralímpicos.
did not rob from Juliano
no le robó a Juliano
for a stadium of about 75,000 people
ante un estadio de 75 000 personas
watching on TV.
que lo vieron por TV.
30 years of basic research
30 años de investigación básica
that we have between our ears
que tenemos entre los oídos
that we have above our head
que tenemos sobre nuestras cabezas,
100 000 millones de elementos
through electrical brainstorms,
mediante ráfagas eléctricas,
took 30 years to imagine in laboratories
de imaginación en laboratorio
15 years ago, proposed in a paper
propusimos en un artículo
that we called a brain-machine interface,
llamamos interfaz cerebro-máquina,
el cerebro a dispositivos
could just move these devices,
puedan mover estos dispositivos,
de sus propios cuerpos
from their own bodies,
we actually needed professional help,
que necesitábamos ayuda profesional,
a Scot and a Brazilian persevered,
y el brasileño perseveraron,
in our respective countries,
en nuestros respectivos países,
suggesting that this was possible.
sugiriendo que esto era posible.
no es ciencia aeroespacial,
is not rocket science,
that a brain is producing
que produce el cerebro
to the spinal cord,
en la médula espinal.
of these brain cells simultaneously,
células del cerebro en simultáneo
that the brain is generating
que está generando el cerebro
these signals into digital commands
en comandos digitales
or even a virtual device can understand
mecánico, electrónico,
what he, she or it wants to make move,
qué quiere hacer mover
ese comando del cerebro.
with lots of different types of sensors,
con diferentes tipos de sensores,
back to the brain to confirm
al cerebro para confirmar
was being enacted, no matter where --
sin importar dónde
or across the planet.
o al otro lado del planeta--
back to the brain,
recibió la respuesta
to make us move.
hacernos mover.
that we published a few years ago,
que publicamos hace unos años,
sin mover el cuerpo,
of an avatar arm,
del brazo de un avatar,
is the sound of the brain of this monkey
del cerebro de este mono
visually identical spheres
distintas visualmente idénticas
a drop of orange juice that monkeys love,
de naranja que a los monos les encanta,
select one of these objects
seleccionar uno de estos objetos
touches one of the objects,
toca uno de los objetos,
to the brain of the animal
al cerebro del animal
of the surface of this object,
de la superficie de este objeto,
the correct object that he has to grab,
cuál es el objeto correcto a agarrar
without moving a muscle.
sin mover un músculo.
and getting your orange juice.
sin mover un dedo.
that we had published 15 years ago.
publicado 15 años antes.
a human being that is paralyzed
que un cerebro humano paralizado
interface to regain mobility.
para recuperar movilidad.
transforms your life completely.
cambia tu vida por completo.
of the spinal cord,
de la médula espinal,
cannot reach your muscles.
porque las señales del cerebro
continue to be generated in your head.
se siguen generando en la cabeza.
dream about moving every night.
cada noche sueñan con moverse.
to get that code out of it
let's create a new body.
crear un nuevo cuerpo.
kick that ball just by thinking,
la pelota con solo pensarlo,
the first brain-controlled robotic vest
robótico controlado por el cerebro
quadriplegic patients to move
pueden usar para moverse
156 people from 25 countries
156 personas de 25 países
of this beautiful Earth,
de esta hermosa Tierra
dropped their patents,
kids, school, jobs,
niños, escuela, trabajos
for 18 months to actually get this done.
para hacer que esto sea posible.
was awarded the World Cup,
con la Copa del Mundo,
wanted to do something meaningful
quería hacer algo significativo
and perfected soccer
y el fútbol perfeccionado
con los alemanes, por supuesto.
needs to talk about that.
is to showcase
and technology,
25 million people around the world
25 millones de personas en el mundo
because of a spinal cord injury.
a una lesión en la médula espinal.
and to FIFA and proposed,
brasileño y a la FIFA
of the 2014 World Cup
de la Copa del Mundo 2014
that allows him to kick the ball
el cerebro que le permita patear la pelota
thought that we were completely nuts,
estábamos completamente locos,
from zero, from scratch.
no teníamos pacientes,
in a routine of training
en una rutina de entrenamiento
construimos esto de la nada
exoskeleton to be built
por el cerebro a construir
Brazilian scientist ever,
del científico brasileño más famoso
created and flew himself
creó y voló él mismo
in Paris for a million people to see.
en París ante un millón de personas.
de los Hermanos Wright
before the Wright Brothers flew
(Laughter)
(Risas)
this exoskeleton together,
este exoesqueleto,
hydraulic machine
con señales del cerebro
called electroencephalography
llamada electroencefalografía
to imagine the movements
que el paciente imagine los movimientos
to the controls, the motors,
los controles, los motores,
with an artificial skin
cubierto con una piel artificial
one of my greatest friends, in Munich,
uno de mis grandes amigos, en Múnich,
and the foot touching the ground
y pie en el suelo
through a vest, a shirt.
de un chaleco, de una camisa.
with micro-vibrating elements
con elementos de micro-vibración
and fools the patient's brain
y engaña al cerebro del paciente
a machine that is carrying him,
no es una máquina lo que lo mueve,
and what you'll see here
Bruno, actually walked.
uno de nuestros pacientes, Bruno.
because we are setting everything,
estamos preparando todo,
cutting in front of the helmet
en frente del casco
the movement that needs to be performed,
el movimiento a realizar,
Bruno is going to certify it,
Bruno lo certificará,
under the command of Bruno's brain.
bajo el mando del cerebro de Bruno.
and now he starts walking.
y ahora empieza a caminar.
being able to move,
on the sand of Santos,
de nuevo en la arena de Santos,
before he had the accident.
antes de tener el accidente.
a new sensation in Bruno's head.
nueva en la cabeza de Bruno.
I am running out of time already --
--me estoy quedando sin tiempo--
when I get married,
be there by myself.
estar allí por mi cuenta.
whenever he wants.
during the World Cup, and couldn't,
en la Copa del Mundo, y no pudimos,
FIFA cut its broadcast in half.
la FIFA cortó la emisión a la mitad.
is Juliano Pinto in the exo doing the kick
Juliano Pinto en el exo dando la patada
de ir al campo de juego
in front of the entire crowd,
de toda la multitud,
just describe the operation.
describen la operación.
indicate that the exo is ready to go.
indican que la exo está listo.
and it can deliver feedback,
y devolver respuestas
makes the decision to kick the ball,
de patear la pelota
two streams of green and yellow light
and going to the legs,
that were taken by the exo
mentales recibidos por el exo
the ball is set, and he kicks.
y da la patada.
and looked at us on the pitch,
nos mira en el campo,
of your imagination.
published this a year ago,
de publicar esto hace un año,
to exchange mental messages
intercambiar mensajes mentales
coming from the environment
que viene del entorno
a torpedo, a neurophysiological torpedo,
un SMS neurofisiológico,
the act that he needed to perform
que tiene que hacer
the environment was sending as a message,
el entorno le envió el mensaje
from the first animal's brain.
del cerebro del primer animal.
because I want to show you the latest.
quiero mostrarles la última.
is the first rat getting informed
on the left of the cage
a la izquierda de la jaula
to basically get a reward.
para obtener la recompensa.
he is sending a mental message
that didn't see any light,
in 70 percent of the times
and get a reward
para obtener la recompensa
the light in the retina.
la luz en la retina.
to a little higher limit
mentally in a brain net,
mentalmente en una red cerebral,
the virtual arm that I showed you before,
el brazo virtual que mostré antes.
the two monkeys combine their brains,
dos monos combinaron sus cerebros,
to get this virtual arm to move.
para hacer mover este brazo virtual.
is controlling the y dimension.
when you get three monkeys in there
más interesante con 3 monos
que controle X e Y,
play the game together,
to get the famous Brazilian orange juice.
jugo de naranja brasileño.
of all these brains working
de toda la actividad cerebral
of a biological computer,
de computadora biológica
and achieving a motor goal.
y logrando un objetivo motriz.
and discover what is out there.
y descubrir qué hay ahí fuera.
surf the Net just by thinking,
la red con el pensamiento,
to an autistic kid who cannot see,
a un niño autista que no puede ver,
of a brain-to-brain bypass,
a un bypass cerebro a cerebro,
that it all started on a winter afternoon
empezó una tarde de invierno
with an impossible kick.
con una patada imposible.
thank you for sticking to your time.
gracias por apegarte a tu tiempo.
a couple more minutes,
we want to develop, and, of course,
y, por supuesto,
brains to figure out where this is going.
para saber cómo sigue esto.
is actually getting a signal
is reacting to that signal
and transmitting the neurological impulse.
y le transmite el impulso neurológico.
No, it's a little different.
No, es un poco diferente.
of the other two monkeys.
la existencia de los otros dos.
to accomplish is 3D.
que resolver es en 3D.
in three dimensions.
the two dimensions on the video screen
2 dimensiones en la pantalla
to synchronize their brains,
sincronicen sus cerebros,
when one monkey starts slacking down,
empieza a poner menos empeño,
enhance their performance
mejoran su desempeño
without telling the monkey
has to control,
tiene que controlar...
forgets about the old dimensions
ese animal olvida las antiguas dimensiones
on the new dimensions.
en las nuevas dimensiones.
that no Turing machine,
que ninguna Máquina de Turing,
what a brain net will do.
lo que hará la red cerebral.
as part of us.
como parte de nosotros.
have you succeeded versus failed?
versus los fracasos?
Oh, several times.
unless I had done it a few times.
no haberlo hecho un par de veces.
por falta de tiempo,
a European group
un grupo europeo
man-to-man brain-to-brain connection.
hombre a hombre, cerebro a cerebro.
big ideas start in a humble way --
ideas empiezan de forma humilde,
of one subject
cerebral de un sujeto
all non-invasive technology.
con tecnología no invasiva.
like our rats, a visual message,
como nuestras ratas, un mensaje visual,
a magnetic pulse in the visual cortex,
magnético en la corteza visual,
two different pulses.
dos pulsos diferentes.
he saw something different.
the first subject was sending
que envió el primer sujeto
Okay, that's where we are going.
Bueno, hacia allí vamos.
at the next conference.
para la próxima conferencia.
MN: Thank you, Bruno. Thank you.
MN: Gracias, Bruno. Gracias.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miguel Nicolelis - NeuroscientistMiguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface.
Why you should listen
At the Nicolelis Laboratory at Duke University, Miguel Nicolelis is best known for pioneering studies in neuronal population coding, Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) and neuroprosthetics in human patients and non-human primates.His lab's work was seen, famously though a bit too briefly, when a brain-controlled exoskeleton from his lab helped Juliano Pinto, a paraplegic man, kick the first ball at the 2014 World Cup.
But his lab is thinking even bigger. They've developed an integrative approach to studying neurological disorders, including Parkinsons disease and epilepsy. The approach, they hope, will allow the integration of molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral data in the same animal, producing a more complete understanding of the nature of the neurophysiological alterations associated with these disorders. He's the author of the books Beyond Boundaries and The Relativistic Brain.
Miguel was honored as one of Foreign Policy's 2015 Global Thinkers.
Miguel Nicolelis | Speaker | TED.com