“Sometimes I Forget I'm Paralyzed.” How Neuralink’s First Patient Found Freedom by Connecting His Brain to a Computer.

Noland Arbaugh gave Elon Musk's brain computer interface company access to his mind in early 2024. His risk opened up new worlds and possibilities.

Noland Arbaugh and his mother Mia

The desert daylight was fading when Noland Arbaugh DM’d me to drive over to his Yuma, Arizona home. The 30-year-old quadriplegic cannot operate a phone by hand, can’t type on a laptop, and wasn’t able to fully operate a computer a year ago. But using just the thoughts in his brain, Arbaugh scrolled his cursor to my X acc…