Benjamin Rapoport
Precision Neuroscience, Mount Sinai Health System
Builder The claim is about what the hardware does, and the philosophy is left open
Benjamin Rapoport approaches neural interfaces from the dual perspective of neurosurgery and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) engineering. At Precision Neuroscience, he developed the Layer 7 Cortical Interface, a thin-film micro-electrocorticography (micro-ECoG) strip containing 1,024 electrodes on a flexible substrate that conforms to the cortical surface without penetrating the brain tissue.
Rapoport’s position is that long-term, high-bandwidth brain-computer interfaces must prioritize biological safety and reversibility. By avoiding penetrating micro-needles, surface micro-ECoG arrays mitigate chronic neuroinflammatory responses, glial scar formation, and microvascular damage.
In the context of whole brain emulation and consciousness transfer, Rapoport’s work highlights the physical boundary conditions of human cortical interfaces: balancing the trade-off between invasive single-unit resolution and non-destructive, surface-conformable recording across large cortical surface areas.
Known for. Co-founder of Precision Neuroscience, founding member of Neuralink, and pioneer of conformable micro-electrocorticography (Layer 7 Cortical Interface)
Coverage on this site
Related researchers
- Matt AngleParadromicsFounder and CEO of Paradromics, developer of the Connexus Direct Data Interface high-data-rate brain-computer interface
- Isabella R. BeckettCoauthor of the MaleCNS preprint comparing male and female Drosophila brain connectomes
- Stuart BergFirst author of the MaleCNS preprint on the male Drosophila central nervous system
- Edward BoydenMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteExpansion microscopy, optogenetics, connectomics tools for consciousness research
-
Sydney BrennerMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, CambridgeFounding the C. elegans research program, the 1986 connectome, the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Kwanghun ChungMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyFirst author of CLARITY, hydrogel-tissue transformation for intact brain imaging
Benjamin Rapoport is listed with the other builders, who hold that the claim is about what the hardware does, and the philosophy is left open. The positions themselves are set out in the index of consciousness theories. Every researcher covered on this site is indexed in the directory of consciousness researchers.