Computer controlled by brain

Boffins and Boffinettes at Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems have worked out a way of controlling a computer without needing a mouse.

They have wired up the brain of a 25-year-old quadriplegic to a computer using 100 wires coming out of a connector stuck in his skull.

According to USA Today the system is not fool proof as it only works 70 percent of the time and more challenging games such as Doom 3 are a long way off. However the unnamed 25-year old told doctors that the device has changed his life.

The boffins have called their system 'brain gate' and the long term goal is to build artificial limbs that can learn to read signals from the brain. It could also be used in combat situations where a fighter pilot, for instance, might operate some controls just by thinking. Of course for the idea to really get off the ground, they have to work out a way of doing it without drilling holes in people's head and sticking sensors like drawing pins into people's lower cortex.