The Connection Between the Nervous System and Machines: Commentary

Peripheral neurostimulation for encoding artificial somatosensations

The direct neural stimulation of peripheral or central nervous systems has been shown as an effective tool to treat neurological conditions. The electrical activation of the nervous sensory pathway can be adopted to restore the artificial sense of touch and proprioception in people suffering from sensory-motor disorders. The modulation of the neural stimulation parameters has a direct effect on the electrically induced sensations, both when targeting the somatosensory cortex and the peripheral somatic nerves. The properties of the artificial sensations perceived, as their location, quality and intensity are strongly dependent on the direct modulation of pulse width, amplitude and frequency of the neural stimulation. Different sensory encoding schemes have been tested in patients showing distinct effects and outcomes according to their impact on the neural activation. Here, I reported the most adopted neural stimulation strategies to artificially encode somatosensation into the peripheral nervous system. The real-time implementation of these strategies in bionic devices is crucial to exploit the artificial sensory feedback in prosthetics. Thus, neural stimulation becomes a tool to directly communicate with the human nervous system. Given the importance of adding artificial sensory information to neuroprosthetic devices to improve their control and functionality, the choice of an optimal neural stimulation paradigm could increase the impact of prosthetic devices on the quality of life of people with sensorimotor disabilities.

An Examination of Prospective Uses and Future Directions of Neuralink: The Brain-Machine Interface

The human brain is one of the most mystifying biological structures in nature. Overwhelming research, technology, and innovations in neuroscience have augmented clinical assessments, diagnosis, and treatment capabilities. Nonetheless, there is still much to be discovered about nervous system disorders and defects. Neuralink, a neurotechnology company, is advancing the field of neuroscience and neuroengineering. The company’s initial aim is to develop an implantable brain-machine interface device that will enhance the lives of people with severe brain and spinal cord injuries. Here, we provide insight into Neuralink’s design, early testing, and future applications in neurosurgery. While early testing with small and large animals show promising results, no clinical trials have been conducted to date. Additionally, a term search for “Neuralink” was performed in PubMed. The literature search yielded only 28 references, of which most indirectly mentioned the device but not in direct testing. In order to conclude the safety and viability of the Neuralink device, further research studies are needed to move forward beyond speculation.

Celebrating 20 Years of Open Access and Innovation at JMIR Publications

In this 20th anniversary theme issue, we are celebrating how JMIR Publications, an innovative publisher deeply rooted in academia and created by scientists for scientists, pioneered the open access model, is advancing digital health research, is disrupting the scholarly publishing world, and is helping to empower patients. All this has been made possible by the disintermediating power of the internet. And we are not done innovating: Our new series of "superjournals," called JMIRx, will provide a glimpse into what we see as the future and end goal in scholarly publishing: open science. In this model, the vast majority of papers will be published on preprint servers first, with "overlay" journals then competing to peer review and publish peer-reviewed "versions of record" of the best papers.