Neuroscience of the Future: a Map We Have Only Begun to Draw We live in an era when neuroscience has ceased to be the province of armchair theoreticians. Neuroscience has stepped into clinics, education, business, art, and even our everyday lives. We wear devices on our wrists that measure our biometrics, we learn to control our attention, we treat depression with brain stimulation. But this is only the beginning. The future of neuroscience is not just new drugs or diagnostic methods. It is a fundamental rethinking of what it means to be human. What horizons are opening up before us? And what challenges must we overcome to ensure that these horizons do not turn into illusions? From Tomographs to Neurointerfaces: a Direct Channel of Communication One of the most captivating areas of the future is the brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Today, there are systems that allow paralyzed people to control robotic hands or type text with their thoughts. But these are only prototypes. In the future, we will be able to connect directly to digital networks without keyboards and screens. This is not science fiction — the first commercial neurointerfaces are already undergoing clinical trials. They will be able to help people with severe motor disabilities, and then possibly become available to healthy people who want to expand their cognitive abilities. But here comes an ethical question: who will have access to these technologies? Will this create a new form of inequality — a neuro-elite that will \"think faster\"? Moreover, scientists are developing non-invasive brain stimulation methods that can improve memory, attention, and even creativity. This is not pills, but safe electrical and magnetic impulses. Perhaps in ten years we will be able to \"train\" our brains as we currently train our muscles in the gym. This sounds tempting, but it hides risks: we may start interfering with the natural mechanisms of brain function without fully understanding the long-term consequences. ... Read more