Brain Implant Lets Man Create Music With His Mind
▼ Summary
– Galen Buckwalter, a quadriplegic, received a brain implant from Blackrock Neurotech as part of a Caltech study to aid paralysis research.
– The implant reads his neural activity, allowing him to operate a computer with his thoughts and regain sensation in his fingers.
– Beyond functional uses, the brain-computer interface technology enables creative expression, such as making music or digital art.
– With a graduate student’s algorithm, Buckwalter can compose musical tones by volitionally controlling specific neurons.
– His neural-composed tones were used in a song on his punk band’s latest album, demonstrating a personal artistic application.
In 2024, research psychologist Galen Buckwalter, 69, volunteered for a craniotomy to receive a brain implant as part of a study at Caltech. Having lived as a quadriplegic since a teenage diving accident, he was motivated to advance science that could aid others with paralysis. The six microchips from Blackrock Neurotech now embedded in his cortex read his neural activity, decoding movement intention. This technology has granted him remarkable abilities, from operating a computer with his thoughts to regaining sensation in his fingers. Most recently, it has allowed him to compose music with his mind.
This field of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is being pursued by companies like Paradromics, Synchron, and Neuralink with the primary goal of restoring communication and mobility for people with severe motor disabilities. Buckwalter’s journey, however, illustrates a powerful secondary application, transforming the implant into a tool for creative expression. He is not alone; other BCI recipients have used similar systems to produce digital art through thought alone. A 2023 exhibit at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, featured works by artists like Nathan Copeland, James Johnson, and Jan Scheuermann, all created via neural interfaces.
Buckwalter’s musical exploration is a collaboration with Caltech graduate student Sean Darcy. Darcy developed a specialized algorithm that translates Buckwalter’s neural signals into musical tones generated on a computer. A longtime musician with the Los Angeles punk band Siggy, Buckwalter has already incorporated some of these mind-generated tones into a song titled “Wirehead,” which shares its name with his band’s album released on March 15.
In a recent conversation, Buckwalter described the origins and mechanics of this novel creative process. His inspiration came from an unlikely source. “Even before I was implanted, I saw this clip on YouTube about mushrooms,” he explained. The video demonstrated biosonification, where electrodes amplify the electrical activity within fungi to produce unique sounds. “I saw that and thought, if a mushroom can chirp like that, I want to know what my brain sounds like.” He brought this idea to the Caltech team from the outset, and Darcy took on the challenge, developing software in his spare time to make it a reality.
The technical process involves identifying specific neurons that Buckwalter can consciously control. Each of his six implants contains 64 independent channels, providing 384 total data streams. When he visualizes an action, like moving his toe, a distinct set of channels activates. Darcy’s software assigns a baseline musical tone to a neuron’s resting firing rate. When Buckwalter activates that neuron through thought, the pitch rises; suppressing it brings the pitch back down.
“I think about moving my index finger, and then think about moving my pinky,” Buckwalter said, describing how he manipulates different channels. Currently, he can manage two distinct tones simultaneously. Pushing beyond that, he notes, becomes cognitively challenging, akin to the difficulty of rubbing your head while patting your stomach. This direct neural control opens a new frontier, not just for physical assistance, but for unlocking the artistic potential of the human mind.
(Source: Wired)
