The Future of Brain Implants: Restoring Speech, Regaining Mobility, Treating Pain

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Dec 23, 2025

Matt Angle, the founder and CEO of Paradromics, is revolutionizing neurotechnology with high-data-rate brain-computer interfaces. He shares fascinating insights into how these devices can restore speech for paralyzed patients and enhance control of prosthetics. Angle highlights the challenges and breakthroughs of decoding neural activity and the regulatory landscape for bringing these innovations to clinical trials. He also addresses ethical concerns and the future possibilities of sensory prostheses and cognitive augmentation, sparking a thought-provoking discussion on consciousness and technology.

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INSIGHT

Brains Need Parallel Data Channels

Neurons are slow so you must read many simultaneously to get high information throughput.
Paradromics builds high-data-rate interfaces to capture population activity rather than single high-speed channels.

INSIGHT

Attempted Actions Leave Decodable Traces

Motor cortex activity remains when body connections are severed, so attempted actions still produce neural signals.
Machine learning decoders can map those attempted actions to speech or movement outputs.

ADVICE

Judge Implant Risk Realistically

Compare BCI surgery risk to similar intracranial procedures like DBS or epilepsy monitoring.
Don't conflate major tumor resections with routine electrode implant surgeries when judging safety.

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Brain-computer interfaces are moving out of the lab and into real medical use.

In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer talks with Dr. Matt Angle, founder and CEO of Paradromics, a neurotechnology company developing one of the most advanced high-data-rate brain implants in the world, similar to Neuralink. These devices record activity from individual neurons, making it possible to restore speech in people with paralysis, reconnect the brain to external devices, and potentially treat chronic pain and neurological disorders with far greater precision than existing approaches.

Angle explains why progress in neuroscience has been limited not by biology, but by data—how much information we can actually read from the brain, and how fast. He describes how patients who can no longer speak may soon communicate fluently using only brain signals, why invasive implants can sometimes be safer than long-term drug treatments, and what it takes to bring a brain implant through FDA approval and into the clinic.

The conversation also touches on the larger questions raised by this technology, including autonomy, consciousness, and what happens when the boundary between brain and machine begins to blur.

Matt Angle is the Founder and CEO of Paradromics, a neurotechnology leader developing the world's most advanced and clinically viable brain-computer interface (BCI) platform—bridging human thought and digital capability. Paradromics' BCI platform records brain activity with unmatched precision, capturing data at the level of individual neurons. This advanced technology enables the decoding of vast amounts of brain data, opening the door to next-generation treatments for paralysis, chronic pain, addiction, mental health conditions, and more. With the power of AI, this platform has the potential to radically shift how healthcare providers approach some of the most challenging medical conditions.

Angle earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Heidelberg, followed by postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Paradromics engineered its first clinical product, the Connexus® BCI, received two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations, and performed the first-in-human neural recording in May 2025. The company is now preparing to launch a clinical trial in early 2026, pending regulatory approval.