Brain Implants That Help Paralyzed People Speak Just Broke New Records

Paralysis had robbed the two women of their ability to speak. For one, the cause was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a disease that affects the motor neurons. The other had suffered a stroke in her brain stem. Though they can't enunciate clearly, they remember how to formulate words. Now, after volunteering to receive brain implants, both are able to communicate through a computer at a speed approaching the tempo of normal conversation.