Tapping into the Brain to Help a Paralyzed Man Speak

In a once unimagined accomplishment, electrodes implanted in the man’s brain transmit signals to a computer that displays his words.

He has not been able to speak since 2003, when he was paralyzed at age 20 by a severe stroke after a terrible car crash. Now, in a scientific milestone, researchers have tapped into the speech areas of his brain — allowing him to produce comprehensible words and sentences simply by trying to say them. When the man, known by his nickname, Pancho, tries to speak, electrodes implanted in his brain transmit signals to a computer that displays them on the screen. His first recognizable sentence, researchers said, was, “My family is outside.”