Noland Arbaugh tragically became a quadriplegic in 2016, but unlike any other time in history, things may be turning around for him.
That’s because Arbaugh became one of the first patients in history to receive Elon Musk’s famous Neuralink implant.
“There’s what’s called attempted motion and imagined motion,” Arbaugh told Joe Rogan while explaining how the implant works. “I did a lot of attempted motion at first.”
“An attempt movement is exactly what it sounds like: you’re trying to move your hand in a certain direction. You’re trying to move your fingers – up, down, left, right – you’re trying to do something,” he says.
“Then an algorithm would translate that into cursor control. But what I realized after a few weeks was that I could simply think, ‘move the cursor here,’ and it would move the cursor. The first time that happened, it was mind-blowing,” Arbaugh continues.
The first time he moved a cursor with his mind, he recalled, “I was dizzy for the rest of the day.”
“I couldn’t believe what had just happened,” he says with a smile.
“Is there any hope in the future that this technology can be used to help people regain their mobility?” Logan asked, to which Arbaugh replied, “Yes, that’s part of the plan.”
Arbaugh also told Logan that he is testing further uses of Neuralink in pigs.
“They get the pigs’ legs to move on their own. The pigs are not paralyzed, but basically they tell the pigs to come over to this piece of trellis off the floor. And they put food on the trellis and they say, ‘Pig, come over here if you want us to experiment on you,’ and the pig goes in and then they control the pig’s legs,” he explains.
There is also a video circulating of Arbaugh moving chess pieces on a screen with his mind.
“It’s unimaginable,” commented an impressed Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report. “It’s like science fiction come true. It’s just unbelievable.”
Want to learn more about Dave Rubin?
For more candid conversation, free reign, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, Subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American Dream.
