The hat that allows people paralyzed to communicate – LA NACION (Argentina)

Scientists developed a brain-machine interface to ensure that people affected by the “syndrome of captivity” can answer questions

A brain-machine interface allows affected by the “syndrome of captivity” can answer questions. Photo: video Capture, Wyss Center

patients who suffer from the syndrome of captive or locked-can’t even open or close the eyelids. To those affected, communication with the outside world is impossible, but they are alert: hearing, smelling, or thinking.

however, european scientists have developed a “cap” that allows them to communicate. It is a brain-machine interface that has allowed four of them to answer questions of their caregivers or family members. The four said to be happy in spite of your state.

The causes of the syndrome of captivity may be related with a lesion in the brain stem or to a disease that affects the motor neurons. Another of their causes is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which goes by immobilizing all of the muscles in a progressive way. In the most extreme cases occurs an ophthalmoplegia, which prevents the voluntary movement of the eyes, so that the people affected are as locked inside of his own body. The only way to get them out of their confinement is to read directly from your brain.

According to The Country, a group of researchers intervened to 4 affected, three women and a man. These were used over the years, the flicker of his eyes to communicate. But the advance of the disease ended by paralyzing also the muscles of the eye. Now, by means of this cap with sensors, have been able to tell how they felt.

The technique takes advantage of the oxygenation of the hemoglobin of the blood in the brain, and the variation in this flux is captured by means of a sort of scanner. Photo: www.wysscenter.ch

The cap records the changes in blood flow in areas of the frontal lobe of the brain. The different responses to a particular question generated different patterns. The part machine of the interface relates the changes of pattern with the answers. According to the study, published in PLoS Biology, after several training sessions all patients were able to respond adequately in more than 70% of the time. The technique takes advantage of the oxygenation of the hemoglobin of the blood in the brain, and the variation in this flux is captured by means of a sort of scanner.

“we Saw that the four were able to respond to the personal questions that I did, using only their thoughts”, said the neuroscientist of the Center Wyss of Bio-and neuro-engineering in Geneva (Switzerland), Niels Birbaumer. “If we manage to replicate this study on more patients, I think that we could give back the ability to communicate to people with the syndrome of captivity”, he added.

however, the researchers acknowledge that there is still a problem. If you could verify an increase in the oxygenation of the hemoglobin, when the patients responded affirmatively to some questions, the effect of the negative responses to the other was not so apparent.

in Addition, as acknowledged by Birbaumer, the pattern of the brain of each patient was “different” from the others. Despite this, the study authors are convinced that the system could be refined in the pursuit of thoughts more elaborate.

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