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37 · A MN ACADEMIC

"The Brainet"

Dr. Miguel Nicolelis

CHAPTER
ch05 · Human-Systems Intelligence Interaction
TIER
Academic
STATUS
Living · Active
ACTIVE
1961 – present
AFFILIATION
Duke University · Walk Again Project
JURISDICTION
Neuroscience / Brain-Machine Interfaces / Neural Ensembles
COLD OPEN
"When I connected four rat brains to solve a problem none could solve alone, I was not doing an experiment. I was reading the universe's instruction manual. Intelligence is never solitary. It is always networked."
OVERVIEW

Neuroscientist who showed that the brain encodes the world not in single neurons but in ensembles — distributed coordination events. His Brainet experiments linked multiple animal brains into a shared computational substrate that outperformed any individual. His Walk Again Project let a paraplegic man take the first kick of the 2014 World Cup using a brain-controlled exoskeleton.

WHY THIS VOICE MATTERS TO KNOWWARE
Nicolelis provides the biological proof of coordination intelligence: neurons that fire alone produce noise, neurons that fire in coordinated ensembles produce thought. His Brainet experiments show that the three-body pattern scales — the coordination layer between brains is where intelligence emerges, not within any single brain.
OUTSTANDING NOTES
  • ◦NIH Director's Pioneer Award
  • ◦Medal of Honor of the Brazilian National Congress
  • ◦Scientific American 50 Award
CLASSIFICATION
MN
ACADEMIC · TIER A
ch05
METHODS & FRAMEWORKS
5 entries
Brainet (networked brains)Neural ensemble codingBrain-machine interfacesWalk Again ProjectDistributed consciousness
KEY WORKS
  1. 01 Beyond Boundaries
  2. 02 The Relativistic Brain
  3. 03 Walk Again Project (2014 World Cup)
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