Brain-implant enables mind over matter

[Mr. McD]

A man paralysed from the neck down by knife injuries sustained five years ago can now check his email, control a robot arm and even play computer games using the power of thought alone.


Electrodes implanted in Nagle's brain measure the neural signals generated when he concentrates on trying to move one of his paralysed limbs. Software trained to recognise different patterns of neural activity then translates imagined gestures into the movement of an on-screen cursor or a robotic arm at Nagle's side.

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn9540&print=true

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This is cool!

I hope they are able to do more of this sort of thing-will make a world of difference in the lives of many people.

[yurbud]

2. cat brain used as camera (PHOTO & LINK)

This was in the BBC. They hooked up the optical input in a cat's brain and intercepted the information coming from it's eyes. It's fuzzy because they only did sensors for 177 pixels:






story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/471786.stm

They've done something similar for a blind guy putting pictures IN. As the technology improves, they raise the resolution and expand his field of vision.

[GeorgeGist]

3. Well there is the matter of those electrodes...

implanted in his brain. But hey, why quibble with a catchy headline.

[cain_7777]

4. How long before we can have a complete Cyborg body.

With Honda and other companies developing robots that can walk upright, why not create an exoskeleton with neural control for someone like Nagle giving him all the abilities as he did before, at least a more indepndent life.