Anonymousabout 3 hours ago
Researchers at Columbia University have demonstrated the first brain-computer interface that decodes a listener's neural attention in real time to selectively amplify a single voice in noisy environments — a feat conventional hearing aids cannot achieve. Published in Nature Neuroscience in May 2026, the proof-of-concept system raises profound questions about cost, surgical invasiveness, regulatory pathways, and the cultural politics of "fixing" deafness, even as parallel advances in soft brainstem implants from EPFL promise to extend hearing restoration to patients whom cochlear implants cannot help.