A man paralyzed from the shoulders down regained some use of his arms and hands via a brain-computer interface, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University. It's believed to be the first instance of overcoming quadriplegia with help from temporarily implanted brain-recording and brain-stimulating technologies. The event and the neural interface that made it possible are described in a paper published in the Lancet this week. Bill Kochevar, 56, suffered a spinal injury in 2006 as the result of a bicycling accident. In 2014, he enrolled in a clinical trial known as BrainGate2, a project administered by a large consortium of academic institutions exploring the utility of the BrainGate brain-implant system, the first iteration of which appeared in 2014. Previous BrainGate research had shown that patients with the implant can learn to move a cursor on a screen, operate a TV, and direct a robotic arm.

Read more at motherboard.vice.com