60 Minutes: Brown research group’s BrainGate is ‘a leap in evolution’
Reporter Scott Pelley of CBS’s 60 Minutes didn’t mince words as he opened the news magazine’s November 2 segment on new technologies that tap directly into the brain.
“Once in a while,” Pelley began, “we run across a science story that’s hard to believe until you see it. Quietly, in a number of laboratories, an astounding technology is developing that directly connects the human brain to a computer. It’s like a sudden leap in human evolution – a leap that one day could help paralyzed people to walk again and amputees to move bionic limbs.”
Pelley was describing several groundbreaking inventions that are allowing paralyzed people to control computers and other devices using only their thoughts. Prominent among these projects – and positioned in the report as perhaps the most advanced mind-body technology to date – was the BrainGate device developed by Brown Professor of Neuroscience John Donoghue ’70 PhD, currently being tested on human subjects in trials designed by Associate Professor of Engineering Leigh Hochberg ’90. Both faculty members appeared on the show with one of their subjects, a woman named Cathy who has been paralyzed for nine years by a stroke.
BrainGate consists of an implantable sensor and external processors that record and decode brain signals from the motor cortex and turns them into movement commands. The technology grew out of Donoghue’s research on how the brain translates thought into action. The BrainGate implant allows people with paralysis to move a computer cursor, control a wheelchair, or operate a robotic arm using thoughts alone. It is being developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc., a company Donoghue co-founded and which he currently serves as chief scientific officer.
Peller watched in amazement as Cathy opened e-mail and played recorded music by moving a computer cursor simply by thinking of doing so. Her ability to steer a wheelchair with her thoughts gave viewers a glimpse of the not-so-distant future.
“One of the biggest surprises was that [Cathy’s stroke-damaged] brain was functional and she was able to make it work as if she were really moving,” Donoghue told Peller. The next step? “We need a fully implantable system. We’re working on that.” Donoghue estimates that his project is some three to five years away from perfecting a wireless brain implant.
Viewers responded with praise and joy to the 60 Minutes report.
“This is an amazing story,” commented one on CBS’s Web site. “As a severely disabled person who uses a vent to breathe 24/7 and a motorized wheelchair for mobility, this … brought tears to my eyes.”
“Beautiful!” wrote another viewer. “How encouraging for all of us who have motor problems, especially veterans and stroke or ALS patients.”
Stroke patient Cathy’s son added his thanks: “My mother found Dr. Hochberg and asked to be part of this study, and he agreed,” wrote Brian Hutchinson. Braingate “is making her dreams come true of living a life outside the box. It is amazing that one day she will be able to do things we never thought she would do ever again.”
Last year Donoghue was awarded the K.J. Zülch Prize, Germany’s highest honor for basic neurological research, for his research on mind-to-movement technology. “John Donoghue’s work offers important insights into the human brain and how to tap its power to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury and other severe motor impairments,” said Konstantin Hossmann, director of the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne, in bestowing the honor. “This is exceptional research that has the real power to change lives.”