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This is not a hypothetical scenario. This is what life is like for those who suffer from what doctors and scientists call a “completely locked-in state.” These people, unlike those who are simply “locked-in,” are unable to make even small eye movements or subtle blinks. While the situation would seem utterly hopeless, using something called a brain-computer interface (BCI), scientists have—for the first time—enabled completely locked-in people to take part in two-way communication. The study that achieved this breakthrough was published today in the journal PLOS Biology.
With this setup, locked-in patients were able to respond to questions with a “yes” or “no” by focusing their attention in a specific way, which caused two distinct patterns of blood oxygen level changes that could be detected and classified by the BCI.
The success of this communication method surprised even the authors of the paper, as it was thought that completely locked-in people lacked the sort of goal-directed thinking required to use any BCI.
What may seem more astonishing to people unfamiliar with research on locked-in states is that the study found that all four patients reported being generally content with life, despite their physical affliction. This conclusion is unmistakable, as the patients were routinely asked if they were happy over the course of many weeks. Although it is not perfect, researchers found that the method provided right answers to closed questions, such as “Is your husband’s name Joachim?” approximately 70 percent of the time.