Since electrical impulses are generated when the brain works, is it possible to harness these impulses as el?

Question

Since electrical impulses are generated when the brain works, is it possible to harness these impulses as electricity for practical usage?

Answer 1

I gave cool_navin1's answer above a "-1" recommendation solely because a violation of community guidelines -- directly quoted material with no attribution. It all came from http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp?artid=5022&type=6&root=4&parent=4&cat=48

That said, there's some good information in that quote that may help to answer your question.

The individual impulses are of too low a voltage and too weak a current to harness for anything useful. One could imagine an implant powered by the body's own "electrical system", but at present, no implant exists that would work with so low a power, even if it were possible to harness it in the first place. Besides -- those impulses are being used, and "tapping" for power them would create a major problem in a person's important neurological communications!

However, more and more progress is being made in the way of harnessing brain impulses as triggers for other devices external to the patient, and these could prove extremely valuable down the road to those with various physical empairments and paralysis.

Answer 2

Nerve impulses involve electrical charges. A nerve cell membrane has special protein molecules that control the opening and closing of its pores. When at rest, the membrane keeps the concentration of sodium ions in the neuron very low. The membrane also keeps the concentration of potassium ions and negative organic ions much higher in the cell than in the surrounding fluids. These differences in ion concentration make the inside of the neuron more negative than the outside, and so the membrane is said to be polarised. The resulting voltage difference across the membrane is called the resting potential. A chemical, electrical, or mechanical stimulus applied to a neuron can affect the membrane's porosity and change the resting potential. The stimulus can cause the membrane's pores to open and allow more sodium ions into the cell. The increase in sodium ions makes the inside of the cell positively charged, and this voltage change is called a depolarisation. When a stimulus causes a neuron to depolarise, the neuron is said to fire. The firing is the start of a nerve impulse.

Action potential is the brief (about one-thousandth of a second) reversal of electric polarisation of the membrane of a nerve cell (neuron) or muscle cell. In the neuron it constitutes the nerve impulse, and in the muscle cell it produces the contraction required for all movement. An action potential is conducted at speeds that range from 1 to 100 m per second, depending on the properties of the fibre and its environment. All impulses from a particular neuron have the same size and duration, no matter how large the stimulus that caused the neuron to fire. The fact that neurons fire at maximum strength or not at all is called the all-or-nothing phenomenon. The brain probably detects the intensity of a stimulus by the frequency of impulses generated and the number of nerve fibres stimulated.

Before stimulation, a neuron or muscle cell has a slightly negative electric polarisation; that is, its interior has a negative charge compared with the extracellular fluid. This polarized state is created by a high concentration of positively charged sodium ions outside the cell and a high concentration of negatively charged chloride (as well as a lower concentration of positively charged potassium) inside. The resulting resting potential usually measures about -75 millivolts (mV), the minus sign indicating a negative charge inside. Since impulses are in the range of millivolts, the electrical energy is too small for any practical usage.

Answer 3

The answer is clearly no. Not only is there too little power, but if you were to intercept the signal, the electricity would not reach its destination, and if that signal were, say, on its way from the brain stem to the heart, it would kill you. And I wouldn't sacrifice usage of my left arm to power my IPod, would you?

Answer 4

I read the output figures somewhere, its very small, 5 watts comes to mind but even that seems like it might be rather high. The brain is very efficient so it does not use much actual power.