A mind-reading brain implant allows a paralyzed 34-year-old man who cannot speak or move to communicate with his family for the first time in years, and one of his first requests is a BEER.
- A completely paralyzed German had two electrodes inserted into his brain.
- The man has not been able to contact his family since February 2019.
- After several months of training, the man was able to say “yes” or “no” through the speaker.
- Now he can ask for a beer and ask his son if he wants to watch a Disney movie.
A paralyzed man, unable to even move his eyes, is now able to communicate thanks to a brain implant, and one of his first requests was for the doctors to bring him a beer.
An unidentified 34-year-old German could also tell his four-year-old son that he loves him and ask if he would like to watch a Disney movie with him.
Since February 2019, he has been in a completely “locked” state due to the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The disorder, also known as motor neuron disease, affects the brain and nerves that control movement. Over time, this can cause paralysis.
As it progresses, patients gradually lose verbal communication, relying on eye movements to convey ideas to their loved ones.
But even this may eventually be deprived of them, as the nerves that control these movements also degenerate.
However, scientists say the new method of communication could offer hope to thousands of people living with a condition that allows them to spell words to their loved ones.
This figure shows how the system works. Electrodes implanted in the human brain pick up signals about attempts to move, which are translated into yes or no answers. They are transmitted to the man through a speaker that emits one tone for a yes answer and another tone for a no answer. With the help of this yes and no system, a person can pronounce words and convey requests and feelings to people.
Publishing their findings in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers surgically inserted an implant consisting of two small electrodes into a man’s motor cortex, the part of the brain responsible for movement.
For two months, the researchers observed the activity in this region, asking him to simply think about the movement of various parts of his body.
He was then taught to use thinking about specific movements to answer “yes” or “no” questions.
How does a brain implant work?
The system, called a brain-computer interface, is designed to help completely paralyzed patients communicate.
In the case of a 34-year-old German man, an implant consisting of two electrodes was inserted into his motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls movement.
The experts then taught the man to think of movement when he wanted to answer yes or no to a question.
Once the neural activity surrounding these thoughts reached a certain level, they were picked up by electrodes and sent to an electronic speaker with different tones indicating a yes or no answer.
The auditory response from a person’s thoughts allows him to confirm that he is sending the right signal.
With this yes or no system, a person could spell words with the help of a technician or a family member.
The speed of such writing is low, on average about one character per minute.
However, it offers a way for a person who is completely paralyzed and therefore unable to respond to similar systems that can form words using eye movements to communicate with caregivers and loved ones.
The system allowed him to transmit words and ideas one letter at a time, at a rate of about one character per minute.
After three and a half months of life with a brain implant, the man was able to communicate in short sentences.
His first achievement was the pronunciation of his own name, followed by the name of his relative.
He then thanked the team of doctors and technicians who returned the communication device to him.
The patient then gradually began to use the system to improve their treatment and make requests.
One day a man asked for beer through a feeding tube.
He could also tell his child “I love my cool son” and directly ask if he would like to see a Disney movie.
The authors note that one of his most repeated requests was to ask his family to play the American rock band Tool’s “loud” album.
Professor Nils Bierbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tübingen, said the paralyzed man thanked him and his team directly.
ALS patients who are still in control of their eye movements may rely on communication systems based on the eyes or facial muscles, which can be used to speak words and ideas with the help of specialized tracking software at a relatively high speed.
Professor Birbaumer said it would be useful to test the implant on more people who are paralyzed with advanced ALS.
An estimated 30,000 Americans have ALS, and 5,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
It is estimated that around 5,000 people in the UK are living with motor neurone disease at any given time.
ALS rose to global prominence during the Ice Bucket Challenges, where participants threw cold water on themselves to raise funds to fight the disease.
Physicist Sir Stephen Hawking is known to have had ALS and managed to overcome the limited lifespan that many people have, living to the age of 76.
The study does not indicate when the man was paralyzed, but says that in February 2019 he lost the ability to move the eye muscles he previously used to communicate.
WHAT IS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?
ALS is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
It is also called motor neurone disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease, after an American baseball player who was diagnosed in 1939 when he was only 36 years old.
The disease is a rare condition that gradually damages parts of the nervous system.
This happens when specialized nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, called motor neurons, stop working properly, which is called neurodegeneration.
Life expectancy for about half of people with the condition is three years from the onset of symptoms.
However, some people can live up to 10 years, and in rare cases longer.
The disease can affect adults of all ages, including adolescents, although this is extremely rare.
It is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 40, but most people have their first symptoms in their 60s. It affects slightly more men than women.
There is currently no cure for motor neuron disease.
Treatment aims to make the person feel comfortable and have the best possible quality of life.
It also attempts to compensate for the progressive loss of bodily functions such as mobility, communication, swallowing, and breathing.