Paralyzed Man Uses Thoughts to Move a Cursor
From: New York Times - 07/13/2006 - P. A1
By: Andrew Pollack

The new issue of the journal Nature includes a paper on an implant system
that has enabled a paralyzed man to use his thoughts to move a cursor, open
email, play the video game Pong, and draw a circle on a computer screen. In a
commentary in Thursday's journal, Stephen H. Scott, professor of anatomy and
cell biology at Queen's University in Ontario, writes that the device helps
move implantable neuromotor prosthetics from the realm of science fiction to
reality. Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems in Foxborough, Mass.,
developed the BrainGate implant system, which makes use of a 4 millimeter by
4 millimeter sensor with 100 tiny electrodes, and is designed to eavesdrop on
the electrical signals emitted by neurons in the motor cortex region. Matthew
Nagle, 26, of Weymouth, MA, volunteered for the experiment, which involved
connecting the device to a pedestal that protruded out of the top of his
skull, and plugging a cable connected to a computer into the pedestal to use
the implant system, similar to the "Matrix" movies. Although performance may
need to be improved, Cyberkinetics hopes to have BrainGate approved for
marketing by 2008 or 2009. Also, the ability of electrodes to detect brain
signals tends to weaken after several months, daily recalibration of the
system takes about half an hour, and a wireless version would make a
permanent hole in the head unnecessary. Krishna V. Shenoy, an assistant
professor of electrical engineering and neurosciences at Stanford University,
believes the system would work faster if the brain implant was made to
eavesdrop on neurons expressing the intention to make a move. 

Read the entire article at: (may require free registration)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/science/13brain.html

Neuroscience: Converting thoughts into action
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7099/full/442141a.html

Stephen H. Scott
http://anatomy.queensu.ca/faculty/scott.cfm

Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems
http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com/content/index.jsp

Cyberkinetics technology
http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com/content/technology/platformtechnology.jsp

Cyberkinetics Braingate Neural Interface System
http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com/content/medicalproducts/braingate.jsp

Krishna V. Shenoy
http://www.stanford.edu/~shenoy/

Neural Prosthetic Systems Laboratory
http://www.stanford.edu/~shenoy/Group.htm