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© ALS Independence 2003-08
Scritto da Luca Mandolesi
17 November 2007
Have you ever wished if you could remember as much data as possible by just
planting a memory card in your brain, or move objects without raising a finger?
Well, that might not remain only in SF movies.
The technology has reached to the point which connects the human brain to a
computer, directly. There are already some people living with that technology,
operating computers, writing e-mails, or driving wheelchairs with only their
thoughts.
Dr, Jonathan Wolpaw, a neuroscientist at Wadsworth Center and Neural Injury and
Repair, developed a ‘cap’that can pick up, with sensors, the electrical activity
of one’s brain and allow him to select letters. The computer screen from which
one select letters is not a usual keyboard, but a black screen with flashing
alphabets scattered around. When one thinks of a word and sees what it’s
searching for, his brain sets off a unique electrical pattern, which the
computer can pick up.
If a cap can do that job, even more so a tip implanted inside one’s brain.
A team led by Brown University neuroscientist John Donoghue created a system
called “Braingate,”which put sensors inside brain. The sensors can be implanted
in one’s motor cortex, which controls movements and is located on the surface of
the brain, and connected to the computer through a ‘plug’ on the head.
The system was first implanted to a woman who had suffered from stroke and were
left with her body paralyzed. It will take some time to understand all the
signals it receives from her brain, but so far, she is able to move a cursor of
computer by only thinking. Although the movement is not so quick and accurate
still, one day the system will allow one to control everything a computer is
connected to.
The Dr. Donoghue believes that one day, they can allow those with paralysis to
move their own arms and legs again. There is already a example of monkey being
able to move a robotic arm only with its ‘brain power.’ Maybe the day is not so
far when one can put off the light, control the temperature of the room, make a
phone call, or even use a housekeeping robot, just with the thought of one’s
mind.
The technology is expected to help people paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), strokes, or other neuromuscular disorders. However, the utility
of the technology has huge potential, also in other field of science, such as in
criminal investigation process, or psycho therapy, to name a few.
"A man with ability and the desire to accomplish something can do anything." Donald Kircher
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