The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay
The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay
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The Brain Electric
The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and Machines

Author: Malcolm Gay

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 8 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/20/2015


Synopsis

The gripping and revelatory story of the dramatic race to merge the human brain with machinesLeading neuroscience researchers are racing to unlock the secrets of the mind. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, they are developing miraculous technologies to enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs, and the rest of us to manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for Defense Department and venture capital funding, prestige, and great wealth.Part life-altering cure, part science fiction, part military dream, these cutting-edge brain-computer interfaces promise to improve lives—but also hold the potential to augment soldiers' combat capabilities. In The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay follows the dramatic emergence of these technologies, taking us behind the scenes into the operating rooms, start-ups, and research labs where the future is unfolding. With access to many of the field's top scientists, Gay illuminates this extraordinary race—where science, medicine, profit, and war converge—for the first time. But this isn't just a story about technology. At the heart of this research is a group of brave, vulnerable patient-volunteers whose lives are given new meaning through participating in these experiments. The Brain Electric asks us to rethink our relationship to technology, our bodies, even consciousness itself—challenging our assumptions about what it means to be human.

About Malcolm Gay

Malcolm Gay is an arts reporter for The Boston Globe. He has written frequently for The New York Times, and his writings and essays have also appeared in The Atlantic and Time.com, as well as several other publications. Named an Alicia Patterson Fellow in 2013, Gay has won numerous journalism awards. The Brain Electric is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mercer on December 17, 2016

Super interesting information presented terribly blandly.......more

Goodreads review by Kristin on March 16, 2016

Real-life science fiction, the story of the search to develop a brain-computer interface that will let us control things with our minds. The research is still in a very, very early stage. Largely funded by DARPA, researchers in the field have had some success. There is clearly a lot of opportunity.......more

Goodreads review by Todd on May 14, 2019

Have you ever wished you could control things with your mind? It might be handy to change the tv channel or surf the web without lifting a finger, but not exactly ‘life altering’. That would not be the case with those who are paralyzed. For them, the ability to interact with the world could markedly......more

Goodreads review by James on April 08, 2018

Pretty interesting read and a very interesting topic. I appreciated learning some of the history of brain-computer interfaces though I wish there had been a bit more on plans for the future. I also found the layout of the book a little confusing.. it jumped around in time a lot and I would've found......more

Goodreads review by Nick on June 26, 2022

An entertaining popular science foray into new neurotechnologies—primarily those involving artificial limbs controlled by a user’s brain. Some early chapters which chronicle the ups and downs of any new, rapidly-growing industry (in-fighting for a scarce amount of resources like funding and particip......more