Neuralink patient
1
Noland Arbaugh
Neuroscience student and inspirational speaker
Yuma, Arizona
SCI
PRIME
Patient
#
1
Implant date
January 2024
Condition
SCI
Study
PRIME
Hospital
Barrow Neurological Institute
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
* Likely, but not yet confirmed by Neuralink, the patient, or the trial site.
In their words
“[Neuralink has] restored my hope, helped me find purpose, and shown me a future filled with possibilities.”
About
Noland Arbaugh
Noland, 31, was born in Yuma, Arizona. While at a summer camp in 2016, he sustained a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. He is now the first human in the world to receive the Neuralink implant. In his 21-month update, he shared how much Neuralink has helped improve his quality of life and given him the freedom to become a neuroscience student and speaker.
Neura Pod interview
Watch the full conversation on the Neura Pod YouTube channel.
Implant timeline
Jan 2024 | First Neuralink implant | Noland became the first person to receive a Neuralink implant, at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. | https://neuralink.com/updates/prime-study-progress-update-user-experience/
May 2024 | Thread retraction reported | Neuralink reported that a number of implant threads retracted in the weeks after his surgery, which reduced the number of working electrodes. | https://neuralink.com/updates/prime-study-progress-update-user-experience/
Feb 2025 | One year of Telepathy | Neuralink's one-year report named Noland as one of three people using Telepathy, its system for controlling a computer by thought. | https://neuralink.com/updates/a-year-of-telepathy/
Patient details come from the patient's own public posts, Neuralink, trial sites, and news reports. This page is general information about an investigational device and is not medical advice.
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