哥倫比亞大學的研究人員透過小鼠大腦實驗展示了神經科技的強大潛力，他們不僅成功解碼了小鼠處理視覺資訊的神經元活動，甚至還能利用雷射全息投影技術將虛擬影像直接植入小鼠大腦中，藉此操控其行為。這項技術的進步與功能性磁振造影（fMRI）以及機器學習人工智慧的快速發展相呼應，目前科學家已經能夠從人類的大腦掃描中辨識出複雜的情緒、想法甚至解碼語言，為癱瘓患者帶來了重新溝通的希望。
隨著技術逐漸成熟，各種非侵入性的穿戴式腦波（EEG）掃描設備開始走出實驗室，進入工作場所與消費市場，引發了對腦部數據被商業化「開採」的強烈擔憂。從監測員工專注度、孩童學習狀態到分析消費者潛意識喜好的神經行銷學，甚至科技巨頭正在開發能將思維轉化為電腦指令的穿戴裝置，這一切都暗示著一個潛在的反烏托邦未來：人們可能為了利益或迫於無奈，將最私密的大腦數據交易給企業與數據經紀人。
面對這種如同「狂野西部」般缺乏監管的數據掠奪現狀，科學家與倫理學家聯合倡議建立全新的「神經權利」框架，將保護人類心智與大腦數據視為核心的人權問題。在「神經權利基金會」的推動下，包含智利與美國科羅拉多州在內的部分國家與地區已陸續立法，旨在確保個人的心智隱私不受侵犯、保護人類的自我認同與能動性，並嚴格規範企業對神經科技與大腦數據的存取、分享與商業濫用。
Researchers at Columbia University have demonstrated the formidable potential of neurotechnology through mouse brain experiments, successfully decoding neuronal activity related to visual processing and even manipulating behavior by implanting virtual images directly into the brain using holographic lasers. This technological advancement mirrors the rapid evolution of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and machine-learning artificial intelligence, which have already enabled scientists to identify complex emotions, thoughts, and even decode language from human brain scans, bringing new hope for communication to paralyzed patients.
As the technology matures, noninvasive wearable electroencephalography (EEG) scanning devices are moving beyond the laboratory and into workplaces and consumer markets, sparking intense concerns about the commercial "mining" of brain data. From monitoring employee focus and children's learning states to neuromarketing aimed at analyzing consumers' subconscious preferences, and even tech giants developing wearables that translate thoughts into computer commands, all of this points toward a potential dystopian future where people might willingly or desperately trade their most intimate neural data to corporations and data brokers.
Confronted with this unregulated "Wild West" reality of data extraction, scientists and ethicists are jointly advocating for a novel "neurorights" framework, framing the protection of the human mind and brain data as a fundamental human rights issue. Propelled by the Neurorights Foundation, several jurisdictions including Chile and the US state of Colorado have already enacted legislation aimed at ensuring mental privacy remains unviolated, protecting human identity and agency, and strictly regulating corporate access, sharing, and commercial abuse of neurotechnology and brain data.