Imagine losing your ability to speak or move, yet still having so much to say. For Brad G. Smith, this became his reality after being diagnosed with ALS, a rare and progressive disease that attacks the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movement. But thanks to a groundbreaking Neuralink brain implant, Smith is now able to communicate with the world using only his thoughts. Join The FREE CyberGuy Report: Get my expert tech tips, critical security alerts and exclusive deals -- plus instant access to my free Ultimate Scam Survival Guide when you sign up! Before receiving the Neuralink implant, Smith relied on eye-tracking technology to communicate.

Gert-Jan Oskam, paralyzed for 12 years, is able to walk again thanks to the brain-spine "digital bridge" interface developed at France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). A paralyzed man has regained the ability to walk thanks to artificial intelligence-powered implants that re-established communication between the brain and spinal cord, researchers said. "Now I can just do what I want – when I decide to make a step the stimulation will kick in as soon as I think about it," Gert-Jan Oskam said, adding that he now has "freedom that I did not have" and that between the surgeries and therapy, it has been "a long journey to get here." Oskam, a 40-year-old Dutchman, was left paralyzed following a cycling accident 12 years ago. He lost full use of his legs and partial use of his arms due to damage to the spinal cord in his neck.

The man sat still in the chair, staring intently at a piece of cake on the table in front of him. Flanking him were two giant robotic arms, each larger than his entire upper body. One held a knife, the other a fork. Move right hand forward to start," ordered a robotic voice. The man concentrated on moving his partially-paralyzed right arm forward. His wrist barely twitched, but the robotic right hand smoothly sailed forward, positioning the tip of the fork near the cake. Another slight movement of his left hand sent the knife forward. Several commands later, the man happily opened his mouth and devoured the bite-sized treat, cut to personal preference with help from his robotic avatars. It had been roughly 30 years since he was able to feed himself. Most of us don't think twice about using our two arms simultaneously--eating with a knife and fork, opening a bottle, hugging a loved one, lounging on the couch operating a video game controller. Coordination comes naturally to our brains.

In a medical first, researchers harnessed the brainwaves of a paralyzed man unable to speak and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. It will take years of additional research but the study, reported Wednesday, marks an important step toward one day restoring more natural communication for people who can't talk because of injury or illness. "Most of us take for granted how easily we communicate through speech," said Dr Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the work. "It's exciting to think we're at the very beginning of a new chapter, a new field" to ease the devastation of patients who have lost that ability. Today, people who can't speak or write because of paralysis have very limited ways of communicating.

A paralyzed man was able to walk using a mind-controlled robotic suit, French researchers report. The 30-year-old man, identified only as Thibault, moved all four of his paralyzed limbs using an exoskeleton controlled by his brain. Thibault said walking in the suit was like being the "first man on the moon," according to the BBC. While his movements were far from perfect, researchers believe the suit could one day improve patients' quality of life. So far, Thibault has only only tested it in the lab at Clinatec and the University of Grenoble in France.

Last week, the New York Times reported the first successful "limb reanimation" in a person with quadriplegia. Ian Burkhart, 24, had broken his neck as a teen in a diving accident. His spine was damaged at the fifth cervical vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Using nerve bypass technology that transmits his thoughts directly to his hand muscles, he has regained control over his right hand and fingers. This is the first time a brain-computer interface has been used to help an individual move his own hands.

Last week, the New York Times reported the first successful "limb reanimation" in a person with quadriplegia. Ian Burkhart, 24, had broken his neck as a teen in a diving accident. His spine was damaged at the fifth cervical vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Using nerve bypass technology that transmits his thoughts directly to his hand muscles, he has regained control over his right hand and fingers. This is the first time a brain-computer interface has been used to help an individual move his own hands.

William Kochevar of Cleveland can slowly move his right arm and hand. No big deal--except that the 56-year-old had been paralyzed from the shoulders down since a bicycling accident ten years ago. The setup that is allowing Kochevar to move his arm again is a "neuroprosthetic" involving two tiny recording chips implanted in his motor cortex and another 36 electrodes embedded in his right arm. Now, during visits he makes to an Ohio lab each week, signals collected in his brain are being captured and sent to his arm so he can make some simple voluntary movements. "I was completely amazed," says Kochevar.

Last week, the New York Times reported the first successful "limb reanimation" in a person with quadriplegia. Ian Burkhart, 24, had broken his neck as a teen in a diving accident. His spine was damaged at the fifth cervical vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Using nerve bypass technology that transmits his thoughts directly to his hand muscles, he has regained control over his right hand and fingers. This is the first time a brain-computer interface has been used to help an individual move his own hands.

Scientists have developed a mind-controlled robotic hand that allows people with certain types of spinal injuries to perform everyday tasks such as using a fork or drinking from a cup. The low-cost device was tested in Spain on six people with quadriplegia affecting their ability to grasp or manipulate objects. By wearing a cap that measures electric brain activity and eye movement the users were able to send signals to a tablet computer that controlled the glove-like device attached to their hand. Participants in the small-scale study were able to perform daily activities better with the robotic hand than without, according to results published Tuesday in the journal Science Robotics. The principle of using brain-controlled robotic aids to assist people with quadriplegia isn't new.