The brain’s adaptability is opening a new field of research and development that will do for the mind what genetic engineering is doing for the body. Already, neuroscientists are finding that persons with parts of their brains removed can relearn lost functions by rewiring parts of the brain, just as stroke victims can regain movement by gradually re-tasking other parts of the brain to take over the work of dead neurons. Assistive technologies will intimately integrate with the brain, turning science fiction’s cyborgs into reality by 2050.
