Brain implant allows person with complete paralysis to communicate

Summary

This article by Abigail Williams, writing for Physics World, makes the following points:

• A type of BCI called an auditory neuro-feedback system was implanted into the brain of a 34-year-old male patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—also known as motor neurone disease.
• The patient was completely locked in and had no voluntary muscular control. 
• After implantation, however, he could form words and phrases and communicate at an average rate of about one character per minute.
• The study answers a long-standing question about whether people with complete locked-in syndrome—loss of all voluntary muscle control, including movement of the eyes or mouth—also lose the ability of their brain to generate commands for communication.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• The potential of Brain-Machine Interface technology has Silicon Valley excited, and ethicists worried | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• NOV 2021 What Is Neurofeedback Therapy?—Forbes
• MAR 2022 Brain Implants Allow Paralyzed Man to Communicate Using His Thoughts—Smithsonian Magazine
• MAR 2022 ‘Emotional moment’: locked-in patient communicates with family via implant—The Guardian  

Source Information:

• Article Source: Physics World
• Media Check: Physics World - About us (No Media Bias Fact Check)
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