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    Experimental Brain Implant Lets Man With Paralysis Turn His Thoughts Into Words

    A stroke left a man paralyzed and speechless. Now a device that decodes brain signals is letting him generate words and sentences.
    by Jon Hamilton Jul 14, 2021 3 minutes
    Illustration showing placement of the eCOG electrode on the participant's speech motor cortex and the head stages used to connect the electrode to the computer.

    A man who is unable to move or speak can now generate words and sentences on a computer using only his thoughts.

    The ability comes from an experimental implanted device that decodes signals in the man's brain that once controlled his vocal tract, as researchers reported Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

    The man is currently limited to a vocabulary of just 50 words and communicates at a rate of about 15 words per minute, which is much slower than natural

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