Galen Buckwalter didn’t hesitate to get a craniotomy in 2024 as part of a brain implant study at Caltech. The 69-year-old research psychologist wanted to contribute to cutting-edge science that could help other people with paralysis. Buckwalter has been a quadriplegic since a diving accident at age 16 left him paralyzed from the chest down. The six chips in his brain, made by Blackrock Neurotech, read activity from his neurons and decode movement intention. They enable him to operate a computer with his thoughts, feel sensation in his fingers that he had lost, and, more recently, make music with his mind. Known as a brain-computer interface, or BCI, the technology is being developed by Paradromics , Synchron , Elon Musk’s Neuralink , and others to restore communication and movement in people with severe motor disabilities. But Buckwalter’s experience shows that the technology can be used in ways that are not purely functional—for instance, as an outlet for creative expression.…