Locked In Syndrome News and Research

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Engineers innovate soft, flexible brain implant

A team have established a soft, flexible neural implant that can mold to the brain’s contours without damaging the tissue.

30 Mar 2020

Brain mapping shows motor regions for the hand may be connected to entire body

Neuroscientists have published findings which reveal that the motor region for the hand connects to the entire body.

27 Mar 2020

Brain-computer interface: huge potential benefits and formidable challenges

A new Royal Society report called “iHuman: blurring lines between mind and machine” is for the first time systematically exploring whether it is “right” or not to use neural interfaces – machines implanted in or worn over the body to pick up or stimulate nervous activity in the brain or other parts of the nervous system.

11 Sep 2019

Study: First independent in-home use of brain-computer interface by ALS patients shows promise

Laboratory studies have shown the potential for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, who cannot move or speak, to communicate using a brain-computer interface.

30 Aug 2018

First-ever communication App launched for immobilized patients

A team of young international tech entrepreneurs with the support of hospitals in France, Luxembourg and Switzerland launched the first and only communication App dedicated to people with severe physical disabilities.

21 Apr 2017

New technology enables “completely locked-in” patients to communicate

A brain─computer interface has enabled people with “locked-in” syndrome to communicate, according to trial results published in PLOS Biology. The device was able to decipher the thoughts of four patients who were unable to speak, move or blink and relay “yes” or “no” answers to basic questions.

2 Feb 2017

Brain-computer interface could revolutionize lives of people with completely locked-in syndrome

A computer interface that can decipher the thoughts of people who are unable to communicate could revolutionize the lives of those living with completely locked-in syndrome, according to a new paper publishing January 31st, 2017 in PLOS Biology.

1 Feb 2017

Researchers compare how neuronal activity differs in conscious and anesthetized mice

Establishing how the brain produces consciousness is one of the most challenging research questions in the field of neuroscience.

11 Nov 2016

EEG could be strong indicator of awareness levels in patients with disorders of consciousness

New research suggests that an electroencephalogram (EEG) could be a strong indicator of the level of awareness of patients in a vegetative state after a severe brain injury.

27 Jul 2016

New device turns paralysis victims' breath into words

A new device which transforms paralysis victims' breath into words - believed to be the first invention of its kind - has been developed by academics from Loughborough University.

28 Aug 2015

Loyola neurologist lists seven surprising things about strokes

In recognition of World Stroke Day Oct. 29, Loyola University Medical Center neurologist Jose Biller, MD, lists seven surprising things you may not know about strokes.

14 Oct 2014

Novel technology to block human infections receives I-Corps grant

A novel technology developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to block human infections by taking a lesson from fish has landed a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program.

5 Jun 2014

PET scan can identify vegetative patients who have potential for long-term recovery

A functional brain imaging technique known as positron emission tomography (PET) is a promising tool for determining which severely brain damaged individuals in vegetative states have the potential to recover consciousness, according to new research published in The Lancet.

18 Apr 2014

Researchers use technology to help immobilized stroke survivors regain some independence

A team of researchers from Montreal has found that stroke patients living with Locked-In Syndrome (LIS) who cannot move, swallow or even breathe on their own, can regain a remarkable level of independence with technological help.

17 Oct 2013

Pupil responses allow communication in locked-in syndrome

Patients who are otherwise completely unable to communicate can answer yes or no questions within seconds with the help of a simple system-consisting of just a laptop and camera-that measures nothing but the size of their pupils.

6 Aug 2013

BrainAble project to offer benefits for people with motor disabilities

In the 2009 film Surrogates, humans live vicariously through robots while safely remaining in their own homes. That sci-fi future is still a long way off, but recent advances in technology, supported by EU funding, are bringing this technology a step closer to reality in order to give disabled people more autonomy and independence than ever before.

28 Feb 2012

Machine-learning methods show that patients with severe brain injury could communicate accurately

Only by employing complex machine-learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans were researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, in her way, communicate accurately.

14 Feb 2012

Researchers predict human's desired movements using brain signals

Bringing the real world into the brain scanner, researchers at The University of Western Ontario from The Centre for Brain and Mind (http://www.uwo.ca/its/brain/) can now determine the action a person was planning, mere moments before that action is actually executed.

30 Jun 2011

fMRI reveals complexity of consciousness

Using a sophisticated imaging test to probe for higher-level cognitive functioning in severely brain-injured patients provides a window into consciousness -- but the view it presents is one that is blurred in fascinating ways, say researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Feb. 25 online edition of the journal Brain.

25 Feb 2011

Survey: 72% of locked-in syndrome patients are happy

Most "locked-in syndrome" patients say they are happy, and many of the factors reported by those who say they are unhappy can be improved, suggest the results of the largest survey of its kind, published in the launch issue of the new online journal BMJ Open.

25 Feb 2011