{"id":161935,"date":"2017-02-11T09:34:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-11T14:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=161935"},"modified":"2017-02-07T20:57:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T01:57:49","slug":"new-mind-reading-device-helps-paralyzed-patients-communicate-will-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-mind-reading-device-helps-paralyzed-patients-communicate-will-live\/","title":{"rendered":"New mind-reading device helps paralyzed patients communicate their will to live"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

According to new research in Europe, people who suffer from “locked-in syndrome” and have been unable to communicate because of lack of muscle control, including being unable to move their eyes, can now let doctors and family members know that they do wish to live.<\/p>\n

In 2010, British neuroscientist Adrian Owen<\/a> determined\u00a0that by reading the changes in blood flow in certain parts of the brain, a person who had been diagnosed as being in a “vegetative” state was in fact\u00a0conscious. Based on that research, the new mind-reading device,\u00a0designed by neuroscientist Niels Birbaumer, connects a patient’s brain to a computer to read blood flow and electrical waves.\u00a0Four\u00a0patients in the study<\/a>\u00a0were\u00a0asked a series of yes or no questions over the course of ten days.\u00a0Then they were asked if they love life and if they are happy.<\/p>\n

Three of the four patients answered yes, and the fourth patient was not asked open-ended questions because her parents thought she was in too fragile of an emotional state at the time. \u00a0She completed just 20 of the 46 sessions of the study.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not only did the Birbaumer’s study show that being unable to move does not mean people are unable to think or enjoy life, but the families of the patients were finally able to communicate with their loved ones after years.<\/p>\n

Birbaumer told MIT Technology Review<\/a> that “the relief was enormous” for the family members to learn that not only were they able to communicate, but that their loved ones were happy and wanted to remain alive on ventilators.<\/p>\n

This new technology could help patients who have complete paralysis due to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), stroke, or accident. In addition, Birbaumer told MIT Technology Review that the device could be used as a diagnostic tool in the future to determine if a person is conscious – which has a misdiagnosis rate of about 40%<\/a>. Birbaumer also aims to improve the technology to allow patients to communicate beyond yes or no questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to new research in Europe, people who suffer from “locked-in syndrome” and have been unable to communicate because of lack of muscle control, including being unable to move their eyes, can now let doctors and family members know that they do wish to live. In 2010, British neuroscientist Adrian Owen determined\u00a0that by reading the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":20148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew mind-reading device helps paralyzed patients communicate their will to live<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Birbaumer said "the relief was enormous" for family members to learn that loved ones could communicate, were happy, and wanted to stay alive on ventilators.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-mind-reading-device-helps-paralyzed-patients-communicate-will-live\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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