Brain implant lets man control computer by thought

By Aisling Irwin, Science Correspondent
Electronic Telegraph  ISSUE 1238  Thursday 15 October 1998

A MAN has been able to control a computer by thought alone after receiving=
 an
electronic implant that fused with his brain cells.

The most immediate application of this marriage of man and machine would b=
e
for people who are totally paralysed, enabling them to express their thoug=
hts
or even control artificial limbs.

The American surgeons involved say it is the first time that such a connec=
tion
has been made directly in the brain, rather than with nerves in the spine =
or
limbs.
=A0
"If you can run a computer you can talk to the world," said Dr Roy Bakay, =
of
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, whose team developed the implants.

He told a meeting of brain surgeons that he had performed two of the
operations in which he persuaded the patients' brain cells to grow into hi=
s
implant, linking upwith its electronics.

One of the patients, a 53-year-old man known only as JR, was almost totall=
y
paralysed by a stroke. He is dependent on a ventilator and cannot speak,
although he is fully alert and intelligent and knows everything that is go=
ing
on around him. Once he received the implant he could control a cursor on a
computer screen and point at different icons, triggering a computer voice =
to
make comments such as "I'm thirsty".

Now that JR, who is in the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Geor=
gia,
can select phrases, his favourite is: "See you later. Nice talking with yo=
u."
The first volunteer, a woman suffering from a neuro-degenerative disease, =
was
given the implants 18 months ago and has since died.

Dr Bakay said: "The trick is teaching the patient to control the strength =
and
pattern of the electric impulses being produced in the brain. After some
training they are able to 'will' a cursor to move and then stop on a speci=
fic
point on the computer screen. If you can move the cursor you can stop on
certain icons, send e-mail, turn a light on or off and interact with the
environment.

"Our hope is that soon we will be able to get to the point that we can con=
nect
the neural signals to a muscle stimulator in the patient's paralysed limb =
and
have them move that limb using the same principle that they use to move th=
e
cursor."

Dr Bakay told the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in Seattle that the
implants consisted of two hollow glass cones, each no bigger than the tip =
of a
ballpoint pen. Each cone contained a tiny electrode.

The doctors also inserted a natural human substance that encourages nerves=
 to
grow, which they extracted from the man's knee. They inserted the cones in=
to
the patient's motor cortex, the region of the brain that controls movement=
.
Once the cones were inserted, the growth factor  substances encouraged the
man's brain cells to grow. Over several months they spread into the cones =
and
attached themselves to the electrodes.

When the patient learned to think in the correct way, he could routinely
trigger the electrode to send a signal to a small transmitter-receiver pla=
ced
just inside the skull. This transmitted to an amplifier worn outside the s=
kull
in a cap, which boosted the signal and sent it to the computer. Controllin=
g
the cursor soon became second nature, said Dr Bakay. But he added that it
might take several more years before the implants could be used to give mo=
re
complex commands.

To reach this stage had taken eight years, according to New Scientist
magazine. Prof Kevin Warwick, a cybernetics expert at Reading University,
said: "If they have actually gone into the brain and picked up signals wit=
h
electrodes that is very new. It is another very exciting step." He said th=
at
one of the major obstacles to the production of such a cyber-human had bee=
n
the moral issue of tampering with the brain of a healthy person.

John Cavanagh, of the International Spinal Research Trust in Cheshunt, Her=
ts,
said: "If these implants can be developed then they could do an enormous
amount to alleviate many illnesses."

The team has been given funding to continue research with three more patie=
nts.

Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
"Electronic Telegraph" and "The Daily Telegraph" are trademarks of Telegra=
ph
Group Limited. These marks may not be copied or used without permission.

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