Brain research: “That would be one of humanity’s greatest discoveries”

Munich. Ms. Aguilar, you work on brain-computer interfaces (BCI), direct connections between the brain and the computer. The technology promises to completely transform our understanding of the brain. What are the biggest mysteries?

Well, so far we know very little about the brain. We have only fully decoded the brain of a zebrafish. That has about 100,000 neurons, while the human brain has 100 billion neurons. The brain is so crucial to our existence: if we lose it, we lose our sense of self, life is practically over. Think about Alzheimer's.

Tesla boss Elon Musk wants to store and play back memories with his brain chip company Neuralink. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman founded Merge Labs because merging with artificial intelligence is humanity's best chance to compete with superintelligent systems. Do you share these dreams or distance yourself from them?

Our dream is as big or bigger than Musk's. We want to teach the nervous system to repair itself. That would be a major breakthrough: one in three people suffer from a neurological disease. By the way, you could have mentioned Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, who also invest in BCI companies. These multi-billionaires are in this race for a reason. Deciphering and treating the brain would be one of humanity's greatest discoveries.