Completely paralyzed man says his first words after a successful brain implant: “I want a beer”

Researchers in Switzerland performed a miracle by outfitting an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient with a chip in his brain. This allows the 36-year-old to spell sentences one letter at a time, reports TMZ. He used this ability to spell the sentence, "I want a beer," This was his first sentence in several months and was a moment of celebration. He also asked for a head massage from his mother and also to listen to the band Tool "loud." He also ordered a curry and all this was possible only due to the implant researchers placed into his brain.

In March 2019, he had two square electrode arrays surgically installed into his brain to aid communication, reports Independent. ALS "is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control," per Mayo Clinic. People with this progressive neurological illness have a two- to five-year average life expectancy following diagnosis, however, they can survive considerably longer.

A brain implant had never been tested on a fully paralyzed patient before. It wasn't known before that communication was possible for people who have lost complete voluntary muscle control. Dr Jonas Zimmermann, a senior neuroscientist at the Wyss Center said, "Ours is the first study to achieve communication by someone who has no remaining voluntary movement and hence for whom the BCI is now the sole means of communication." The results were revealed in a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week. It is titled, "Spelling interface using intracortical signals in a completely locked-in patient enabled via auditory neurofeedback training."

They stated in the study that a BCI communication system can be used at a patient's home itself. When the ALS patient still had the capacity to communicate through eye movement in 2018, he agreed to have the brain implant. After three months of failed attempts, the patient was able to use brain signals to create a binary response to a speller software, replying 'yes' or 'no' when presented with letters.

The initial sentences took another three weeks to generate, and the patient produced dozens more phrases over the next year. He also asked for a variety of foods to be supplied through his tubes, such as goulash soup and sweet pea soup. He was also able to communicate with his wife and 4-year-old kid, resulting in the message, "I love my cool son."