Brain-Computer Interface News

A 41-year-old Colorado man has become a cyborg by way of electrodes implanted in his brain:

Brain-Computer Interface in Higher Levels of Brain

A spinal-cord injury nine years ago left him with paralyzed legs and limited control of his arms. With a brain-computer interface installed in his cortex, he's potentially regaining the use of his hands. He can already move a cursor with his mind and can feel his own fingers, which he couldn't do before the surgery. "There are three ports installed on top of his head that can connect and communicate with outside computers." Unlike similar devices that work with the motor area of the brain, this one in the "higher-functioning areas of the brain in the cortex" offers the possibility of "more natural and complete sensory and motor control." So far, the system is experimental, not available outside the lab. Eventually, researchers hope for "uses not only in motor control, but in cognitive control, possibly leading to therapies for mood disorders or dementia."

Here's a longer article that goes into more detail, such as how visualization enables the subject to produce effects on a computer screen. It also highlights how this research surpasses earlier projects in restoring sensory feedback, allowing the subject to feel objects as well as move them.

Paralyzed Man Gets Brain-Computer Implant

In the far-distant future, could a similar but much more advanced interface confer abilities such as those of Anne McCaffrey's brainships? That series focuses on people born with such severe defects they require extreme technological support to survive. At birth, they're immediately put into life-support "shells" whose electronic interfaces give them sensory and motor abilities beyond natural human capacity. As adults, most shell persons become the "brains" of starships, with an entire ship effectively functioning as the person's body (though some serve as the control centers of space stations instead). Or imagine a more down-to-Earth application, e.g., fully functional robot bodies for severely disabled people.

Margaret L. Carter

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