Paralyzed man moves fingers, plays Guitar Hero with brain implant milestone

Nick Annetta, right, of Battelle, watches as Ian Burkhart, 24, plays a guitar video game using his paralyzed hand. A computer chip in Burkhart s brain reads his thoughts, decodes them, then sends signals to a sleeve on his arm, that allows him to move his hand. Six years ago, while swimming in the ocean surf, 24-year-old Ian Burkhart lost the ability to control his hands and legs. He dove under the surf, and the waves shoved him into a sandbar. But today, thanks to a computer chip implanted into the motor cortex of his brain that decodes his brain activity, he can move his fingers again.