Beyond High-Tech: Communicatng with Brain Waves
From: New Mobility - November 2003 - page 34

Voice-activated computer software offers hope to high quads and others who
lack finger movement, but what about those whose paralysis has deprived them
of speech? According to a recent article in Psychology Today ["Just Short of
Telepathy," May/June issue], a German neuroscientist, Niels Birbaumer, PhD,
of the University of Tubingen, has invented what he calls a thought
translation device, which scans low-frequency brain waves via electrodes
attached to the scalp. People in the advanced stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's
disease) and others whose paralysis has taken away their ability to move or
speak, can be taught to change their brain wave pattems by visualizing
certain images, effectively creating an internal "mouse" capable of making
choices necessary to drive a computer. According to Jeffrey Winters, author
of the article, "Patients can answer yes or no questions, spell out sentences
or even surf the Internet."  

The implications for improved quality of life for those with total paralysis
are substantial. Communication is essential to our ability to work, play and
relate to family, friends, and the world at large, especially in the age of
the Internet. Even more important, the ability to retain communication skills
for those who are "locked in" (unable to move or communicate) can do much to
disprove the mistaken notion that such lives are not worth living. Says the
article: "The widespread belief that their quality of life is very low, and
that they therefore have to die, is a prejudice," says Birbaumer, who adds
that some 95 percent of patients who become locked in refuse artificial
respiration on the advice of their doctors. "These patients are killed
because of that prejudice."  

Communicating with brain waves is no longer a futuristic dream. With
refinements that are certain to follow, new found - and critical - respect
for those who are unable to move or speak is on the very near horizon.

Links:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod/ptoarticle/pto-20030724-000002.asp
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/tci/personal/nsbirbau.htm
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030318-010603-7146r
http://wata.org/forum/1999/99-03-25-01.htm
http://www.lougehrigsdisease.net/als_news/990920german_als_patient_writes_using_.htm
http://overstated.net/03/01/030115locked_in_but_not_locked_.asp
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v398/n6725/abs/398297a0_fs.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-01/NS-EPWA-130199.php
http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/morris4/medialib/readings/thinking.html
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0%2C1282%2C51421%2C00.html