The Brain-machine Interface

By Jeff Hansen from UAB The Mix 

On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, God reaches out to touch Adam. The eye locks on the small gap between their index fingers, a slice of space dividing the ethereal from man.

A similar gap challenges researchers who work with paralyzed or handicapped patients — how to synch the human brain with a machine or computer.

Surprising breakthroughs from decades of basic science were featured at the recent, all-day 2015 Bevill Neuroscience Symposium — “Brain-Machine Interface” at UAB, which drew 200 attendees.

The most vivid example was Jan Scheuermann, a quadriplegic from Pittsburgh. Surgeons cut through her skull in 2012 READ MORE…