Joe Rogan Experience #2167 - Noland Arbaugh

Noland Arbaugh describes becoming the first person implanted with a Neuralink brain-computer interface and how it lets him control a cursor, play video games, and attempt text via imagined and attempted movements. He explains the technical realities, including 64 threads with electrodes in his motor cortex, the thread-retraction problem caused by his brain moving 3mm instead of the expected 1mm, and how software fixes restored performance. The conversation ranges across the future of BCIs, restoring movement and sight, animal testing ethics, AI deepfakes, and a speculative future where mind-reading technology could end lying and even war. Noland shares how being paralyzed reshaped his perspective and faith, framing his participation as a selfless way to help future paralyzed people.

• Noland has 64 threads with 16 electrodes each implanted in his motor cortex; many retracted from his brain over the first month, reducing signal.
  00:05:46
• His brain was found to pulse 3mm with each heartbeat, three times the 1mm the Neuralink was engineered to withstand, likely contributing to thread pull-out.
  00:07:22
• A few weeks in he discovered he could move the cursor just by thinking 'cursor go here' rather than attempting a physical movement, which left him giddy all day.
  00:13:12
• After thread retraction he feared his time in the trial was ending, but Neuralink fixed performance via software, making it work better than before even with fewer threads.
  00:16:50
• Neuralink plans to implant one device in the brain and one below the spinal injury so they talk to each other and route signals past the injury to restore movement.
  00:21:30
• A pig has an implant in its brain and spinal cord; researchers remotely control the pig's leg movements, demonstrating the movement-restoration concept.
  00:22:02
• The application happened over the phone after a friend (drunk on Fireball on a Wednesday morning) misspelled Noland's name on the form.
  01:20:32
• Noland rejects being called a pioneer or Apollo astronaut, saying he did it because anyone in his position would and to spare others any risk that might go wrong.
  01:30:25

• Brain-computer interfaces have existed for decades, with the Utah Array dating to around 1998 and Synchron threading a device up through an artery in the neck.
  00:01:35
• Japanese researchers at Kyoto reconstructed dream visuals with about 60% accuracy using MRI scans.
  00:03:40
• The implant connects via Bluetooth to an app on the computer and reads neuron spikes from the motor cortex.
  00:09:28
• Any motor action can be mapped to any cursor command; moving the cursor left could be trained from a foot kick or any movement, not just a hand motion.
  00:10:34
• Noland is working on mapping sign-language alphabet signs so he can spell and text with his thoughts.
  00:14:13
• Neuralink's Blindsight implant works in monkeys; early vision resolution would be low like early Nintendo graphics but may eventually exceed normal human sight.
  00:34:30
• A Florida woman regained sight via a tooth-in-eye procedure (osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis) after Stevens-Johnson syndrome scarred her corneas.
  00:44:56
• The implant is about the size of a quarter and roughly half an inch thick, placed in a craniectomy where a chunk of skull was removed.
  00:49:05
• Noland's surgery was expected to take 3-6 hours but finished in under 2 hours with no complications.
  00:52:47
• Because the brain sends movement signals slightly before physical motion, the cursor sometimes moves before Noland consciously thinks to move it, effectively giving him an in-game aimbot.
  01:11:06

Books, products and media the guest or host genuinely endorsed here — with the buy link.

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.