Which is to say; in this day and age with modern data transmission technology as advanced as it is, why arent we yet able to capture signals at say; the base of a break in the spinal cord, and transmit them appropriately to the other end?
In: Biology
We don’t actually have a good understanding of what means what in nerve signals. It would be like trying to speak a language we don’t understand. We also don’t have a way to make such small connections that are separate from each other. Nerves are extremely small, and still insulate from each other so a signal does not jump to the next nerve over. We can use electrodes to stimulate a nerve to get an unpredictable response like a kick, or a muscle contraction, and we can read some data from nerves. We don’t have electrodes that can read, or stimulate one nerve at a time.
We can send the signals. The real problem is the type of signals are not just electrical but also hormones and chemicals.
We cant fully replicate that just yet, so while we are closer than we’ve ever been to giving paraplegics use of their legs again, we still have a ways to go.
We also have to send the correct voltage/amperage/frequency or itll just fry the nerves or be misunderstood by the muscles/brain. It’s a very complex system
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