Unit 86
Turning Thoughts into Actions The World Cup final is about to begin. You want to turn on the TV and get to the right channel. So a small area of your brain calls the motor cortex processes and sends intricate electrical signals to your arm and hand, which allow you to pick up the remote control and operate it in time to see the game. But if you don't have the use of your arms, like people who are paralyzed or have nerve or muscular damage, you have to wait for a caregiver to do it. That is, until this past year. In June, 2004, a completely paralyzed man underwent surgery to implant a small sensor in his brain that allows him to write e-mail, play video games, change TV channels and open curtains -- using only his thoughts. Although regulatory approval is still several years away, this is the beginning of a new age of neurotechnology. For 20 years researchers studied monkeys to learn how humans go from thought to action and eventually invented a sensor that detects neural activity in the brain. This led to development of the BrainGate Neural Interface System to be used in human clinical trial. How difficult is this surgery? The surgeon makes a craniotomy that's the diameter of a large coin. The sensor, which is the size of an aspirin with 100 tiny appendages, is implanted in the region that issues commands to the arms. The software tells the surgeon exactly where to go and the whole surgical procedure takes about two and a half hours. Afterwards only a small connector to the computer can be seen from the outside. How does the system work? The patient directs his thoughts to move the cursor on his computer screen. The sensor in his brain picks up those hard-to-detect electrical signals and sends them through three computers that process them into signals just like those from a computer mouse. These processors, which currently sit on a cart and are not mobile, will eventually become wireless and small enough to fit inside a body. So when he is connected, the patient can just "think" the cursor from place to place on-screen like the rest of us using a mouse. He can also connect to other devices through the computer such as a TV set the control that opens and closes the curtains, a powered wheel-chair or even a mechanical hand. Could the implant allow the patient to walk? No, not yet. Walking is extraordinarily tough. Not only do you have to move the legs, but you have to balance. And the system doesn't deal with the balance at all. If you want to understand a bit of what it's like to be paralyzed, try sitting on your hands for three hours. You can't do anything. What if a stem-cell breakthrough allowed us to regenerate nerve function in spinal-cord-injury patients? Would that make the BrainGate obsolete? Let's hope that happens! But if stem cells are able to regenerate the spinal cord, something will have to give instruction to those growing verve fibers on how to hook up. So maybe the device can be used to help instruct the nervous system in how to use the stem cells in a more efficient way. Could this technology be used to create super-heros, or super-villains? Technology in and of itself is neither good nor bad; it's how people apply it. Augmentation of function? Creating super-memory and super-motor abilities? Yes, researchers might come up with all kinds of applications that many people would be uncomfortable with. The ethical implications of these types of devices are worth discussing. But that can't stop this technology from helping people with disabilities.
雅思口语:考生在雅思口语中的常见错
雅思考试:雅思口语话题卡题目之人物篇
雅思口语训练方法总结
雅思考试口语:生活口语素材之学习急救
听说读写中解读雅思口语
雅思口语考试的常见问题和应对方法
7分口语经验:每天一次talk show
雅思口语考试秘诀传授:要化抽象为具体
雅思口语话题范文之主持人
雅思口语资料:The Oriental Pearl TV Tower
雅思口语范文精选:Teengers
雅思口语高频话题答题方法:老人与年轻人
雅思口语辅导:看肥皂剧 提高成绩
雅思口语范文精选:a journey
雅思口语巧夺高分四大技巧
应对雅思口语考试中的难题:巧妙转移话题
雅思口语范文精选:Family
雅思口语7分突破秘笈
雅思口语范文精选:hotel
雅思口语素材:英文面试经典长句大汇总
备考雅思口语考试盲目背诵不可取
雅思口语范文精选:A Handicraft
解读雅思口语话题之Place话题
雅思口语技巧:解读话题之文化、传统
浅谈Part 2中近期出现的建筑话题
9月-12月雅思口语考生必看
雅思口语范文精选:Bad weather
雅思考试口语真题网友版
雅思口语小秘诀
雅思口语 话题范文之孟飞
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