Complete the
following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used
once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
|
A.
processed B. increasing C. applications D. typing E. interpreting F. reflected G. injected H. transforming I. connections J. remarkable K. superhuman
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The
Next Frontier: Using Thought to Control Machines
Technologies are often billed as
transformative. For William Kochevar, the term is justified. Mr Kochevar is
paralysed below the shoulders after a cycling accident, yet has managed to feed
himself by his own hand. This {#blank#}1{#/blank#} progress is partly thanks to
electrodes, implanted in his right arm, which stimulate muscles. But the real
magic lies higher up. Mr Kochevar can control his arm using the power of
thought. His intention to move is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} in neural(神经的) activity in his motor region; these
signals are detected by implants in his brain and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} into commands to activate the
electrodes in his arms.
An ability to decode thought in this way
may sound like science fiction. But brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) like the
BrainGate system used by Mr Kochevar provide evidence that mind-control can
work. Researchers are able to tell what words and images people have heard and
seen from neural activity alone. Information can also be encoded and used to
stimulate the brain. Over 300, 000 people have cochlear(耳蜗的) implants, which help them to hear by {#blank#}4{#/blank#} sound into electrical signals and
sending them into the brain. Scientists have "{#blank#}5{#/blank#}" data into monkeys heads,
instructing them to perform actions via electrical pulses.
As our Technology
Quarterly in this issue explains, the pace of research into BCIs and the
scale of its ambition are {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Both America's armed forces and
Silicon Valley are starting to focus on the brain. Facebook dreams of
thought-to-text {#blank#}7{#/blank#}. Kernel, a startup, has $100m to spend
on neurotechnology. Elon Musk has formed a firm called Neuralink; he thinks
that, if humanity is to survive the arrival of artificial intelligence, it
needs an upgrade. Entrepreneurs imagine a world in which people can communicate
using thoughts, with each other and with machines, or acquire {#blank#}8{#/blank#} abilities, such as hearing at very
high frequencies.
These powers, if they ever materialise, are
decades away. But well before then, BCIs could open the door to wonderful new {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. Imagine stimulating the visual region
to help the blind, making new neural{#blank#}10{#/blank#} in stroke victims or monitoring the
brain for signs of depression. By turning the firing of neurons into a resource
to be used, BCIs may change the idea of what it means to be human.
