Your wishes, orders to the computer

A fanciful dream of using thought to control things is now within human reach, thanks to two research works on computer-brain interface technology about to be published in a magazine. Nature language.

Source: AFP According to the authors, thanks to the revolutionary advances of neuronal simulator, patients with brain or spinal injury can still move, interact, and control things. object.

In the first study of Massachussetts General Hospital (MGH), a 25-year-old patient paralyzed after a spinal cord injury three years ago was able to open the email, turn on the TV and open / close an artificial arm - all by imaginary movements

The part of the patient's brain commanding the experiment was wired with 96 points of micro sensor types. Each of the patients' thoughts will produce millions of nerve signals rushing to the micro sensor points. They will be captured, decoded and processed by the computer, and eventually, "translated" into control commands.

" We found that even after having suffered multiple spinal cord injuries for years, signals of limb movement are still available and usable ," Dr. Hochberg, head of the MGH team, said. .

Although the idea of ​​BrainGate Neural Interface System is not too new, it is really the most encouraging and satisfactory result so far.

In the second study on her two monkeys, two experts, Krishna Shenoy and Gopal Santhanam of Stanford University, found that they could speed up the signaling process with a device to simulate nerve movement, allowing disease. Paralyzed personnel communicate at speeds of up to 15 words per second.

However, it is hard to expect these advanced technologies to become universally popular overnight. Scott warned that there are still many "important issues to overcome", most notably "wireless" of emulator devices to minimize the risk of infection for users.

Thien Y