New wireless system can restore communication and mobility in people with paralysis
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are an emerging assistive technology, enabling people with paralysis to type on computer screens or manipulate robotic prostheses just by thinking about moving their own bodies. For years, investigational BCIs used in clinical trials have required cables to connect the sensing array in the brain to computers that decode the signals and use them to drive external devices.
Now, for the first time, BrainGate clinical trial participants with tetraplegia have demonstrated use of an intracortical wireless BCI with an external wireless transmitter. The system is capable of transmitting brain signals at single-neuron resolution and in full broadband fidelity without physically tethering the user to a decoding system.
Songbird study aims to improve understanding of human speech
The human brain regions responsible for speech and communication keep our world running by allowing us to do things like talk with friends, shout for help in an emergency and present information in meetings.
However, scientific understanding of just how these parts of the brain work is limited. Consequently, knowledge of how to improve challenges such as speech impediments or language acquisition is limited as well.
Using an ultra-lightweight, wireless implant, a University of Arizona team is researching songbirds - one of the few species that share humans ability to learn new vocalizations - to improve scientific understanding of human speech. A paper about their work was published today in the journal
Sex differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases
Men and women are impacted differently by brain diseases, like Alzheimer s disease and Parkinson s disease. Researchers are urging their colleagues to remember those differences when researching treatments and cures.
In APL Bioengineering, by AIP Publishing, University of Maryland scientists highlight a growing body of research suggesting sex differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases, as well as multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and other brain ailments.
That is progress from just a few years ago, said Alisa Morss Clyne, director of the university s Vascular Kinetics Laboratory.
E-scooters sales boom in Brisbane as shared e-scooter patronage returns to pre-COVID levels
TueTuesday 16
iScoot Newstead director Andre van der Merwe with Brisbane councillor Ryan Murphy.
(
Share
Print text only
Cancel
The number of people buying e-scooters for private use is rising in Brisbane, even as the number of trips being taken on shared e-scooters returns to pre-COVID levels.
Key points:
Patronage on shared Lime and Neuron e-scooters has returned to pre-COVID levels
Private sellers say the e-scooter market is increasingly busy
Brisbane City Council is developing a strategy to govern the use of both e-scooters and e-bikes citywide.
Director of iScoot Newstead Andre van der Merwe said his store, which launched in 2018, could sell between 10 and 20 e-scooters a day.