New Brain-Computer Interface Demonstrated

For the first time ever, people implanted with a new device were capable to moving a cursor on a computer screen by the power of words and thought alone. The difference from other brain-computer interfaces (BCI) is that the new approach uses sounds exclusively to perform the link.

As such, one could argue that the people who received the temporary implant learned to talk to the computer, since all that was used to create the interface were brain areas usually involved in speech.

Whenever test participants spoke or thought of a particular sound, they controlled the movements of a cursor on a computer screen. The investigation was conducted at the Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL) School of Medicine (WUSM).

The typical BCI works somewhat different, in the sense that scientists have thus far produced implants that harness the electrical potential of motor neurons to drive a cursor. Motor neurons are specialized nerve cells that carry signals from the brain to muscles.

“There are many directions we could take this [research], including development of technology to restore communication for patients who have lost speech due to brain injury or damage to their vocal cords or airway,” explains WUSM expert and study author Eric C. Leuthardt, MD.

He says that it makes sense to use conventional BCI when trying to restore mobility to a patient. The approaches are oftentimes used to connect a patient in a motorized wheelchair with the controls of that wheelchair, allowing them to move in which direction they please by thought power alone.

“The user can potentially engage the implant to move a robotic arm through the same brain areas he or she once used to move an arm disabled by injury,” says Leuthardt, quoted by Science Blog.

“But that has the potential to be inefficient for restoration of a loss of communication,” he adds, referring to the new work. The expert holds an appointment as an assistant professor of neurosurgery, biomedical engineering and neurobiology at WUSM.

Details of his research were published in the April 7 issue of the Journal of Neural Engineering. The implants used in this study are now just temporary, but experts are now trying to produce permanent ones, that could be installed in patients' skulls for good.

Basically, the new BCI covers a gap in similar capabilities available today. Rather than patients thinking about moving their hand to say hello, they could actually use the segment of their brain controlling speech to do the same.