Avatar, this noun is derived from the mythology of India, and describes gods that deliberately come to earth e.g. Vishnu, the supreme God of Indian culture has 9 different forms in the human world.  In the movie Avatar, the leading male due to war is paralyzed from the waist down.  Through the use of technology, he is able to control a humanoid (Avatar) that allowed him to interact with the Na’vi tribe on Pandora.  Through this technology, he was able to move freely.  The genetic engineering, gene copy along with brainwave analysis technologies depicted in the movie are not merely science fiction.  This is especially true for the latter.  Neuroscience has miraculous progress in the area of brainwave technology. 

 

Electroencephalogram (EEG) was pioneered by Hans Berger in 1929.  He was able to characterize and measure the activity of the brain through the electrical impulses generated and this was later used extensively in medicine for diagnoses including seizures, effects of anesthesia, measure of brain function and blood flow as well as the diagnosis of mental illnesses and sleep disorders.

 

In recent years, neuroscientists have fervently tried to analyze and understand the correlation between brainwaves (Ex. motor neurons) and the actions of muscles and to utilize this technology as a breakthrough for cures in diseases (e.g. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, sometimes referred to as “Locked In Syndrome”) or for patients using prosthetics (artificial limbs) offering them a new life and escape from their “detained” minds.

The following video clip is from CBS’s 60 Minutes program – Harnessing The Power Of The Brain (the video is about 12 and a half minutes).  The clip starts with an introduction and interview of an ALS diagnosed patient–Scott Mackler.  Scott is himself a neuroscientist and due to fate, was diagnosed with ALS–a disease that causes loss of coordination when he was 40.  The daily loss of motor nerve control by the brain results in the atrophy of muscles in the body until the body is completely paralyzed.

 

Through the technology called Brain Computer Interface (BCI) developed by another neuroscientist, Dr. Jonathan Wolpaw at New York State’s Wadsworth Center, Scott uses the flashing computer screen and when the letter he is thinking of flashes on the screen, he will use his brain to think “Yes, this is correct.” and the computer will pick the letters that he has confirmed to make words and then constructs his words into sentences. Thus, allowing him to communicate with the world again.

 

Since EEG electrodes take measurements of the electrical pulses of the neurons in the brain from outside of the skull, on the scalp.  These impulses are referred to in the video “like listening to a symphony from the street outside the concert hall”. Thus, University of Pittsburgh’s neuroscientist Dr. Andy Schwartz derived a gird of electrodes composed of 100 sensors and implanted this into the brains of monkeys.  This allowed every sensor to detect one single neuron of the monkey’s brain and allowed him to more accurately map the brain activity with movements of the monkey’s hand when it is eating.  Once the relationship was understood, he was able to connect the monkey’s brain to a robot arm and the monkey was able to control the arm as if it was his own within a few days of practicing.

 

It was John Donoghue, the head of the neuroscience team at Brown University that furthered the research and developed the technology into a system called “Brain Gate”.  The first recipient of this new technology was Cathy Hutchinson.  Due to a stroke that left her paralyzed, she volunteered to be part of this project and was the first patient to have her brain directly connected to a computer.  During the testing, Cathy was able to use her brain to control the cursor on a computer screen and was further able to control the movement on a motorized wheelchair (for safety reasons she did not sit in the wheel chair at the time).  Donoghue went on to further comment on the future of this technology.  Utilizing the brain to control interface technology, future amputee patients may be able to control prosthetic arms and legs.As a neuroscientist, Scott Mackler deeply believes that this day is coming soon. Harnessing brain activity to control interface technology has allowed him to communicate with the outside world and even more, it has allowed him to continue his research in this field and his world to be more complete.