Computers & Surgeons Reanimate a Paralyzed Human Arm

In 2011, Ian Burkhart, a college freshman, broke his neck while diving into a wave in North Carolina. His spinal injury left him paralyzed from the chest down, a quadriplegic, his brain no longer able to communicate with his limbs. Last week, neural engineers at Ohio State University, activated a computer chip that had been surgically implanted in Mr. Burkhart's brain, bypassing his spinal cord they rerouted his brain signals directly to his arm, and allowed him to pick up objects, stir liquids and play guitar video games - using his own thoughts. Dr. Ali Rezai, the surgeon and director of Ohio State's Center for Neuromodulation, implanted the eraser-head sized chip, using brain imaging to find the precise location with Mr. Burkhart's motor cortex that controls hand movements. The chip holds 96 "microelectrodes" that record the firing patterns of individual neurons.