Amazing feat of mental agility is recorded

A paralysed man has used his brain to write on a screen at speeds almost as fast as an able-bodied adult.

Researchers developed a method of communication for people with paralysis that uses a computer to turn mental handwriting into on-screen words.

And this may allow faster communication than was previously possible, scientists say.

A study found a combination of mental effort and state-of-theart technology allowed a man with immobilised limbs to communicate by text at speeds rivalling those achieved by his able-bodied peers texting on a smartphone.

Stanford University investigators coupled artificial-intelligence software with a device, called a brain-computer interface, implanted in the man’s brain.

The software was able to decode information from the computer to quickly convert the man’s thoughts about handwriting into text on a computer screen.

The man was able to write using this approach more than twice as quickly as he could using a previous method developed by Stanford researchers.

They say the new findings could lead to further advances benefiting millions of people globally, who have lost the use of their upper limbs or their ability to speak due to spinal cord injuries, strokes or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Jaimie Henderson, professor of neurosurgery, said: “This approach allowed a person with paralysis to compose sentences at speeds nearly comparable to those of able-bodied adults of the same age typing on a smartphone.

“The goal is to restore the ability to communicate by text.”