Tag: 60 Minutes
Merging Man And Machine
by andreas on Nov.06, 2008, under brain research
60 Minutes recently ran a feature on scientists who are experimenting with directly linking the brain with computers.
The first example the program highlighted was that of Scott Mackler, a neuroscientist who suffers with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Almost completely paralyzed, Mackler can communicate using a special cap that can detect his brain activity, enabling him to select his words letter by letter on a computer.
Cathy Hutchinson, who suffered from a stroke that left her paralyzed, volunteered to have her brain directly connected to a computer. After implanting sensors in her motor cortex, Hutchinson can operate a computer only using the power of her thoughts.
Potential applications of this technology include prosthetic limbs wired directly to the brain.
