Brain Power in today's world

Something that scares me is waking up one day to find myself being completely paralyzed. Over the summer my parents and I would watch 60 minutes every Sunday night, this one episode left me in awe. They go into investigation on BCI, or Brain Computer Interfaces. This is a program that, as it sounds, connects the human brain to a computer that can speak for the person. 60 Minutes met with Scott Mackler, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, which affects the nerve cells of the brain and the spinal cord. Mark selects letters by thinking of them in his head, and the computer reads them out loud. The downside, it takes around twenty seconds to choose a letter, yet he still manages to do research in his lab at the University of Pennsylvania.

This machine works by seeing random letters flashing on the screen and when you see the one you want you think, “that’s the one”. Having a machine like this, worries some people they are afraid that in a few years people will have these chips inside their brain and will be able to read their minds, or even worse, brainwash. Scientists are currently testing this microchip, the one found in every white circle of the cap, inside the brain of monkeys at the University of Pittsburg. This allows them an even easier way to help red the human brain, and to improve the BCI.

The other source I looked at was CNN, in the Science & Space section. This is a very credible source for me, as is 60 minutes. 60 minutes for me is really interesting because it’s investigating reporting, something I am very much interested in. CNN said that BCI not only allows people to communicate, but also to have paraplegics be able to lift up their arm, and allow it to control light switches, picking up things, and holding things in place. Phillip Kennedy, the CEO and chief scientist of Neural Signals, explains that this machine mostly benefits the locked in patients. "A locked-in patient is somebody who is basically alert, intelligent, but they cannot communicate," (Kennedy). Hopefully in a few years BCI can help more people and have them communicate in less time. This advancement in technology is something that will help many people who suffer from Lou Gehrig's disease.

Check out CNN's story and 60 Minutes' story

Citations:

Bay, Michael. "Brain Chips." CNN. CNN, 5 June 2006. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. .

"Brain Power." YouTube. YouTube, Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009. .

Pelley, Scott. "Harnessing The Power Of The Brain." 60 Minutes. CBS, 6 Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. .