Paraplegic Fitted with Brain Sensor Ushers in Cybernetic Age
From: San Francisco Chronicle - 12/05/2004 - P. B1
By: David Ewing Duncan

Matthew Nagle is a 25-year-old paraplegic with a sensor implanted directly
into his brain that allows him to control a computer as well as an artificial
hand by thought. Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, the human-brain
interface's developer, is using Nagle as a test case. Cyberkinetics,
co-founded by Brown University neuroscience department director John
Donoghue, is the first organization approved by the FDA to run tests on
implanted electrode arrays using as many as five disabled human subjects.
Nagle's Braingate Neural Interface System is equipped with 100 electrodes
implanted above an area of the brain that controls motor activity, and Nagle
is plugged into a computer via a fiber-optic cable attached to a cranial
node. The computer translates Nagle's neural impulses into commands for
moving a cursor or opening and closing the artificial hand. The interface
comes from Donoghue's study of how the brain converts thought into physical
action by analyzing the mechanics of neuron excitation, and early experiments
involved collaboration with University of Utah researchers and the
implantation of electrodes into the brain of a primate trained to play
computer games using a joystick. Nagle's implant only allows a one-way
transmission of Nagle's thoughts to the computer, although there are neural
implants that can be triggered or controlled by outside commands--which
raises the specter, however unlikely at this point, of mind control.
Donoghue's breakthrough also revives visions of being able to download
thoughts and consciousness into a computer and transmit them via email, or
thought-controlled aircraft for military use; challenges include making the
technology less invasive as well as addressing ethical issues. 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/05/INDUNCAN05.DTL
http://www.detnews.com/2004/health/0411/01/a03-315378.htm

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Monkeys, Humans Get Brain-Driven Prostheses
From: Discover Magazine - Vol. 26 No. 01 - January 2005
By: Jack Kelley

Twentysomething Matthew Nagle sits in front of his computer. Skipping over
video games, he selects a desktop icon to lower the volume on his TV, then
opens a paint program and sketches a wobbly circle on the monitor. Killing
time? Nope, making history. Paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a
wheelchair, Nagle controls the computer using only his mind. 

http://www.discover.com/issues/jan-05/features/neuroscience/brain-driven-prostheses/