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amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A man with ALS communicating via brain waves.

I can’t imagine worse torture than being stuck in a locked-in state caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a disease of the nervous system where nerve cells slowly break down, causing muscles to weaken throughout the body.

Patients who survive through the weakening process eventually reach a locked-in state where even though their brain still functions, they are completely paralyzed with their eyes mostly closed.

In this state, the person is unable to communicate. People with ALS typically live two to five years after being diagnosed and usually die from paralysis of the respiratory diaphragm.

However, life may get a little better for people with ALS after a new development that has allowed a man to form sentences using only his brain waves. Researchers at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva, Switzerland, developed a brain electrode that they implanted into a 36-year-old man in a locked-in state that has allowed him to communicate.

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