"My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly."
- Jean-Cominique Bauby from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The quote above comes from Jean-Cominique Bauby, a well-known journalist, author and editor of the French magazines Elle. As a result of a massive stroke, Bauby awoke to find himself in a condition called Locked-in Syndrome. Locked-in Syndrome is a neurological disorder that results in complete paralysis of all voluntary muscles throughout the body except those that control eye movement. Bauby was left speechless and unable to move; his only means of communication was blinking. He, with the help of an assistant wrote his memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by blinking when the correct letter of the word he was thinking was recited.
But what if there had been an easier way?
Over the last couple of years, extensive research has been done into Brain-Computer Interface and it’s potential to help stroke victims.
For example, in 2004, Erik Ramsey, who was almost totally paralyzed but was still capable of making basic vowel sounds, had an electrode implanted in his speech-motor cortex. Frank Guenther and his colleagues at Boston University used information from brain scans of healthy patients to interpret neural activity that occurs during speech[1]. Their studies showed that signals didn’t code for words; instead, it controlled the position of the lips, tongue, jaw and larynx to compose basic sounds. Using this information, they used their software to interpret the signals from Ramsey’s implanted electrode to code the shape of the vocal tract that his was trying to form. It was then transmitted to a vocal synthesizer that produced the sound. Ramsey’s speaking skills vastly improved as he heard the software translate his thoughts into sound and was able to re-learn how to communicate, must like infants do.
Below is an example of Ramsey speaking through his new software:
In 2005, University of South Florida students led by psychologist Emanuel Donchin developed similar technology for sufferers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Like Bauby’s condition, it results in complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in the body. Through the BCI that they developed, it became possible for the patients to type on the virtual keyboard using electroencephalographic (EEG) activity produced in the brain. EEG is the recording of electrical activity that occurs as a result of the firing of neurons. The test subjects were able to communicate a letter at a rate of one character every 26 seconds[2].
Donchin’s study, however, was non-invasive. By using EEG activity, the data was taken by electrodes outside the brain on the scalp. In 2006, a team at Washington University in St. Louise preformed an invasive procedure by implanting a grid atop the subject’s grey matter of the brain to read electrocotricographic (ECoG) activity. The subject, who was epileptic, was then able to play a video game using only signals from his brain to make movements.[3]
More recently, researchers in Europe have developed BCI technology that lets users perform everyday tasks, such as turn on lights and open doors, with their thoughts alone[4]. The rate of typing with thoughts has speed up significantly. As Christopher Gruger, a CEO of the Austrian medical engineering company g.tech stated, “Just two years ago, it took up to a minute to type a signal letter and a whole day to train someone to do it. Now most people can learn to use the system in five minutes.”
On October 6th of this year, new research from the University of Southampton, headed by Dr. Christopher James revealed the possibility of person-to-person communication through thoughts alone[5]. The experiment and the results are explained in the video below:
[1] Barras, Colin. "Brain implant helps stroke victim speak again." NewScientist. 9 July 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. .
[2] "Oddball Science Helps "Locked In" People Communicate." Newswise. University of South Florida, 8 Aug. 2005. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. .
[3] Fitzpatrick, Tony. "Teenage moves video icons just by imagination." Washington University in St. Louis, 9 Oct. 2006. Web. 15 Nov. 2009. .
[4] "Virtual Smart Home Controlled By Your Thoughts." ScienceDaily. 26 May 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. .
[5] "Brain-Computer Interface Allows Person-to-Person Communication Through Power Of Thought." ScienceDaily. 6 Oct. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. .
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