Woman paralyzed for 20 years reveals shocking impact of Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip

A woman who was paralyzed for 20 years has revealed the shocking impact of Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip.

The chip has proved to be life-changing after one patient, Audrey Crews, shared her experience of regaining her ability to use a computer after spending the last two decades fully paralyzed.

This is achieved using a brain computer interface (BCI), which detects tiny electrical impulses that are created when humans think about moving.

These impulses are then translated into a digital command, enabling the user to do things like move the cursor on the screen.

Crews detailed her experience with the surgery on social media, taking to X, formerly Twitter, to write: “Here's more information about how my BCI, brain computer interface, implant works and my surgery. I had surgery last week and everything is going amazing. It was brain surgery, they drilled a hole in my skull and placed 128 threads into my motor cortex.

“The chip is about the size of a quarter. The staff of University of Miami Health Center were awesome. They treated me like a VIP and are some of the sweetest people I'v ever met. The BCI lets me control my computer using my mind. I'll be able to control more electronic devices in the near future.

“I also want to clarify this implant will not allow me to walk again or regain movement. It's strictly for telepathy only. We are still in Miami but I'll be home soon and we'll post more vids explaining the process in more detail. I am the first woman in the world to do this.”

Crews was severely injured in a car accident back in 2005 at the age of 16, which damaged the C4 and C5 vertebrae in her neck, leaving her a quadriplegic.

In a further tweet, Crews revealed that the technology was ‘mind boggling and freeing at the same time’.

In the future, she hopes that the newfound digital autonomy will give her the ability to write a book, adding that ‘I have lots to tell’.

Crews is one of the latest patients to receive the implant after Noland Arbaugh became Neuralink’s first patient to test the neurotech firm’s chip, having it implanted in January 2024.

This was eight years after he was paralyzed in a diving accident.

Recalling his adjustment to his disability, Arbaugh told the BBC that he has ‘no control, no privacy, and it’s hard’, adding: “You have to learn that you have to rely on other people for everything.”

After growing up playing video games, Arbaugh noted that this was something he’d ‘had to let go of’ after becoming disabled, however that’s all changed thanks to the chip.

He said: “Now I’m beating my friends at games, which really shouldn’t be possible but it is.”