Bridge Neurotech is planning to build a wearable brain-computer interface that uses ultrasound.

Pictures are recognized more accurately than environmental sounds, possibly because pictures provide enhanced conceptual and perceptual representations than sounds. Conceptual–perceptual distinctiveness (CPD) theory proposes that pictures benefit from stronger semantic organization and more diagnostic perceptual detail. It remains unclear whether the picture superiority effect reflects differences in the subjective vividness of retrieved memories and whether increasing category-level semantic support can enhance vividness for environmental sounds, thereby reducing picture superiority in recognition memory. Vividness was assessed independently of recognition by having participants generate a mental image from a written label and rate its vividness before old/new judgment of the recognition probe. Experiment 1 replicated the picture superiority effect, with pictures producing higher vividness and recognition accuracy than sounds. In Experiments 2A and 2B, written labels strengthened category-level semantic support for sounds, increasing vividness and target recognition and eliminating modality differences for targets. However, pictures continued to show superior lure (i.e., exemplar foil) discrimination and higher vividness preceding accurate lure rejection. Generalized linear mixed-effects (GLMM) analyses showed that vividness selectively predicted correct target recognition for pictures, whereas for sounds, greater vividness also increased false recognition of lures. Together, these findings suggest that semantic support enhances vividness of mental imagery and target recognition for sounds, whereas the picture superiority effect for lure recognition reflects stronger item-specific retrieval information.

# BCI Thursdays: Online Events ## ## Next Generations (Free events) The BCI Society Next Generations series is intended for students to provide technical background on some cutting-edge topics in BCI research. ### From Academia to Industry: Making the Transition ##### _Tuesday, November 24th at 7:00 am PST (23:00 in China, 16:00 in Europe)_ ##### **** Join Phoenix Peng (Gestala, formerly NeuroXess), Joey O’Doherty (Neuralink), and Surjo Soekader (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) for a candid conversation about their journeys from academia into industry. Our speakers will share their personal experiences, lessons learned, and perspectives on what it takes to make a successful transition from academic research to industry. They will discuss the skills, experiences, and mindset that can help researchers navigate this transition and build productive careers beyond academia. #### Speakers: #### Surjo R. Soekadar ##### _Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin_ Prof. Dr. Surjo R. Soekadar is Einstein Professor for Clinical Neurotechnology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, where he leads the Center for Translational Neuromodulation and the Research Division of Translation and Neurotechnology. As a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and clinician, his work focuses on non-invasive brain stimulation, brain–computer interfaces, neurorehabilitation, and the clinical translation of emerging neurotechnologies. His research bridges neuroscience, engineering, and medicine with the goal of bringing novel technologies from the laboratory into real-world clinical care. #### Phoenix Peng ##### _Gestala_ Phoenix Peng is the Founder and CEO of Gestala, China’s first ultrasound BCI company，Since its official founding on January 1, 2026, Gestala has rapidly advanced its “Chengdu + Shanghai” dual-headquarters strategy, building out its R&D system, industrial capabilities, and global talent pipeline. The company has now raised a total of RMB 570 million ($84 million) to date, making it one of the fastest-growing early-stage companies in China’s BCI sector in terms of capital raised. Peng holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and a Master’s degree from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence (ISTBI) at Fudan University. A seasoned serial entrepreneur, Peng founded Keruyun in 2012, which was acquired by Alibaba Local Services in 2019 for RMB 1 billion. In 2021, he co-founded NeuroXess. As a tech entrepreneur with a background in Internet and AI, he successfully pivoted into life sciences, leading NeuroXess to become China’s premier invasive BCI company in under four years. He is widely regarded in the industry as one of the “entrepreneurs who best understands science.” #### Joseph (Joey) O’Doherty ##### _Neuralink_ Joseph E. O’Doherty received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and continued his training with a postdoc at the University of California San Francisco. His research has focused on developing bidirectional brain-computer interfaces: neuroprostheses sensorized by artificial tactile and proprioceptive signals. He was a co-recipient of the annual BCI research award in 2013 and the Ripple promising investigator research award in 2016. Since 2017 he has been at Neuralink Corp, where he is the Head of Next Gen Applications. Next Generation events are recorded and the recordings available here. ##### Zoom Registration There are no fees to participate in the Next Generations events but you must register to participate. Register here

Explore the 2026 NeuroTech landscape: 100 companies working on neural interfaces, neuromodulation, diagnostics, rehabilitation and research platforms.

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Limits of Brain Computer Interfaces

Efficient interaction with the visual world requires not only accurate object identification but also precise localization of objects in space. While spatial ("where") processing has traditionally been attributed to dorsal stream pathways, recent work has shown that object position can also be decoded from responses in ventral stream areas such as the inferior temporal (IT) cortex. However, because object position in these paradigms is tightly coupled to pixel-based location, it remains unclear whether ventral stream position signals reflect perceptually meaningful spatial representations or simply inherited retinotopic structure. To address this question, we used the motion aftereffect, a classic visual illusion that shifts perceived object position without changing retinal input. Combining large-scale intracortical recordings in macaque IT with matched human psychophysics, we found that motion adaptation induces systematic direction-opponent biases in IT population codes for object position that mirror human perceptual reports, despite identical pixel-level stimuli. These effects are accompanied by adaptation-driven changes in the geometry of IT population representations. We further tested whether artificial vision systems exhibit similar dynamics. Standard feedforward, recurrent, and state-of-the-art video-based neural networks accurately encode object position but fail to produce adaptation-induced position shifts. However, applying empirically derived transformations based on IT adaptation dynamics to model feature spaces is sufficient to generate similar biases. Together, these results indicate that IT represents object position in perceptually aligned coordinates and also highlight a gap between biological and artificial vision systems in capturing history-dependent spatial coding.

Anterior and posterior segment prostheses have advanced toward more biocompatible and higher-resolution interfaces, yet long-term durability, signal fidelity, and surgical complexity continue to limit functional vision restoration in clinical settings. Organ-on-a-chip platforms and organoids now enable physiologically relevant modelling of disease, drug responses, and neural integration, accelerating preclinical testing and informing next-generation bioengineered vision-restoration strategies. Stem cell-derived tissues offer promising avenues for integrating biological and engineered components, though manufacturing scalability, vascularisation, and immune compatibility remain major translational barriers. Effective vision rehabilitation remains essential for translating prosthetic or regenerative gains into functional outcomes, with structured training paradigms leveraging neuroplasticity to improve perceptual learning, spatial mapping, and task-specific performance. Future vision-restoration systems will likely combine prosthetic stimulation, regenerative repair, and adaptive rehabilitation, requiring coordinated engineering, clinical, and computational advances to achieve meaningful, durable, and patient-centred restoration of sight.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China's top state research body, announced on 28 September 2026 that it had released its 15th Five-Year development plan covering 2026 to 2030. The plan lists brain-computer interfaces among its 'important priority fields' (重要优先领域), alongside integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, quantum science and technology, life sciences and biotechnology, and controlled nuclear fusion. CAS will organise research around a '3+4+X' regional layout with Shanghai as one of three strategic highlands, and will explore forming field-based research consortia, mission-based task forces and platform-based facility clusters across its institutes. CAS already runs its own invasive BCI programme: a system developed at its Shanghai Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) was implanted in its first trial participant at Huashan Hospital in March 2025, and StairMed, founded by CEBSIT researcher Zhao Zhengtuo, entered the National Medical Products Administration's innovative device green channel in November 2025 with a market target of around 2028. CAS was one of the seven co-signatories of the 2025 BCI industry implementation opinions. The plan lands six days after Premier Li Qiang inspected BCI products in Shanghai and called future industries a blue ocean for advanced manufacturing. No BCI budget, programme names or milestones have been made public.

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