A Stroke Study Reveals the Future of Human Augmentation

It began in early October 2017, when 108 stroke patients with significant arm and hand disabilities turned up for a peculiar clinical trial. As seen in the trial, when the vagus nerve receives extra stimulation, it causes the brain to release neuromodulators, which regulate the body’s responses. “There isn’t much difference in teaching a stroke victim to use a fork and teaching an elite athlete to hit a baseball better.” It’s just repeated action and developing and reinforcing brain-motor circuits. Generally, to acquire a skill, the brain’s neurons need to fire in the right way at the right time; practice is the usual human course, but now, stimulation lets us do it faster, and better, too. Even if the Olympic committee were to announce regulation requirements as they have for testosterone levels, measuring brain stimulation would require either that athletes or stimulation providers document usage, or some form of internal examinations of the implant device.