Sounds great but the implementation proposed would not be able to help survivors who had dead neurons in that area of the motor cortex. And damaged neurons would have to repair them selves or recruit other neurons to do the fine motor tasks.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/126773-researchers-create-brain-computer-interface-that-bypasses-spinal-cord-injury-paralysis
Scientists at Northwestern University in
Chicago, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, have
successfully bypassed the spinal cord and restored fine motor control to
paralyzed limbs using a brain-computer interface.
The researchers
have created a neuroprosthesis that combines a brain-computer interface
(BCI) that’s wired directly into 100 neurons in the motor cortex of the
subject, and a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device that’s
wired into the muscles of the subject’s arm. When the subject tries to
move his arm or hand, that cluster of around 100 neurons activates,
creating a stream of data which can then be read and analyzed by the BCI
to predict what muscles the subject is trying to move, and with what
level of force. This interpreted data is passed to the FES, which then
triggers the right muscles to perform the desired movement.
The
end result is a computer network that effectively replaces the nervous
system and restores remarkably accurate fine motor control to a
paralyzed arm — watch the video below and be amazed. You will notice
that, as always with bleeding edge science, the subject of this study is
a rhesus monkey rather than a human — but our anatomy is very, very
similar to that of our primate cousins.
The
novel element of Northwestern’s neuroprosthesis is the introduction of a
brain-computer interface. At the moment, state-of-the-art solutions use
FES devices with pre-programmed basic movements (arm lift, hand open,
etc.) that are triggered by small muscle movements in non-paralyzed
muscles. With the BCI, rather than listening for second-hand signals,
around 100 neurons from the specific region of the motor cortex that
handles arm and hand movements are used. As you can see from the video,
not only is this approach responsive, it seemingly allows for a whole
range of grasping movements.
Now, it’s important to bear in mind that we’re a long way away from human trials — these monkeys had a multi-electrode array directly implanted into their brains
— but, even so, we should still be very excited. This is a hugely
important step towards bionic implants that make paralysis a thing of
the past. It might even be the answer to other neurological diseases,
such as Parkinson’s. The research paper
(paywalled) notes that, worldwide, 130,000 people per year sustain
spinal cord injury — with half of those becoming paralyzed from the neck
down.
Even healthy humans — especially those of transhumanist
stock — might want to replace or augment their nervous system with a
computer network. Due to slow clockspeed and neuron-neuron signal
propagation, human reaction time is fairly lackluster — but what if we
had a computer coprocessor and electrical wiring that kicked in, when
needed? Like modern cars that have complex timing and power control
systems, what if humans could run faster or stay awake longer if we had a
computer system to help out? You’d be able to connect to your on-board
(on-brain?) computer via your smartphone, of course, and tweak various
settings…
Use the labels in the right column to find what you want. Or you can go thru them one by one, there are only 28,972 posts. Searching is done in the search box in upper left corner. I blog on anything to do with stroke.DO NOT DO ANYTHING SUGGESTED HERE AS I AM NOT MEDICALLY TRAINED, YOUR DOCTOR IS, LISTEN TO THEM. BUT I BET THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET YOU 100% RECOVERED. I DON'T EITHER, BUT HAVE PLENTY OF QUESTIONS FOR YOUR DOCTOR TO ANSWER.
Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.
What this blog is for:
My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.
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