The body is still, but the mind is clear: this is what happens to patients in a locked-in state. Thanks to a brain implant, these people should now be able to communicate anyway. How it works.
by Patrick Bauer
Patrick Illinger and Till Krause
A research experiment published this week concludes that it is possible to communicate with patients who are completely paralyzed. According to the in the journal Nature Communications described attempt electrodes were implanted in the cerebral cortex of a man whose body had become completely immobilized as a result of advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The electrodes could therefore receive nerve impulses there, which control muscle movements in healthy people.