Device reads brain activity to help locked-in people communicate

People with a rare condition called complete locked-in syndrome may finally have a link to the outside world. By reading the brain activity of completely paralyzed people in a new way, researchers could tell whether the test subjects were thinking'yes' or'no' in response to a question. The results were published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology. Four people with complete locked-in syndrome used the new technology to report that they were happy. The findings indicate that these people actually can communicate, with help from the right technology.