Additional information on SPR and the upcoming meeting is available online at www.sprweb.org.
Selected Presentations from the Upcoming SPR Annual Meeting
The Status of the Thought-Translation-Device (TTD)
-- Niels Birbaumer & Jonathan R. Wolpaw
A "Thought Translation Device" is making it possible for people completely paralyzed by Lou Gehrig's disease to communicate with the outside world. The disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, slowly robs patients of all motor control while leaving their minds unscathed. Patients often end up "locked in" to their bodies, a nightmarish state in which they are unable to control so much as an eye blink and, until recently, making it nearly impossible to communicate their thoughts or needs. The Thought-Translation-Device (TDD) uses a web-accessible computer platform allowing patients to communicate directly with a computer by controlling their brain-wave patterns. Over the last eight years, 11 patients with ALS have learned to communicate directly to the computer by learning to control their brain-wave output. Researchers have found that patients who learned to do this could then apply this skill to operate a computer program that allows patients to communicate. Patients who learned to communicate this way before becoming "locked-in," were still able to communicate once they had completely lost motor control.
The Effects of Stimulant Medications on Children with ADHD and Excess Beta Activity in their EEG
-- Adam Clarke, Robert Barry, Rory McCarthy, Mark Selikowitz, Donna Clarke
'"/>
Contact: Brian Weaver
spr@psychologicalscience.org
202-393-4810
Association for Psychological Science
18-Sep-2003