Output details

On-line, voluntary control of human temporal lobe neurons.

We demonstrate that it is possible to transmit a person’s thoughts to external devices, based on single neuron recordings in epilepsy patients done for clinical reasons. In particular, we show that subjects could internally modulate the firing of their own neurons to control the image displayed at an external PC. These results uniquely exploit the possibility of recording single neurons in humans, as such experiments are not possible with animals or with other brain recordings in humans. They were widely covered by the media and they provide a new alternative for severely paralysed patients to communicate with the external world.