Putting Thoughts into Action: Implants Tap the Thinking Brain
From: Scientitic American Mind - 10/2008
By: Alan S. Brown

Researchers are decoding the brain to give a voice and a hand to the
paralyzed - and to learn how it controls our movements 

Surgeons have implanted a novel neural prosthesis into a paralyzed patient’s
brain. The high-tech device enables the patient to communicate his thoughts
to a computer, which translates them into spoken words. 

Nine people so far have received brain-implanted prostheses. In the past,
patients have used these devices to spell words on a computer, pilot a
wheelchair, or flex a mechanical hand. 

One day implants may enable paralyzed people to move robotic arms or even
bypass damaged parts of the nervous system to reanimate unresponsive limbs.
In the meantime, the quest to develop implanted neural prostheses is
revealing details of how the brain orchestrates movement. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=putting-thoughts-into-action

Links:
Chips in Your Head
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=chips-in-your-head

Thinking Out Loud
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=thinking-out-loud