HEALTH

HIGH-TECHNOLOGY

Biolink Lets Computers ‘Read’ Minds

[Note:1]

TROY, N.Y. (AP)—Seventeen years ago, a truck accident spared Sanford Blatt’s life, but not his body, leaving him confined to a wheelchair unable to do the simplest tasks.

“Maximum frustration,” the 45-year-old quadriplegic said. “Anger at first, crying second. Third, anxiety. Then came determination.”

Blatt, of Pittsburgh, recalls feeling defeated when the things he once took for granted, like unlocking a door or answering the telephone, became impossible.

“I had to relearn darn near everything. I had to become co-dependent,” he said.

Blatt thought his independence was all but lost, but for a short while at Russell Sage College, he was allowed a glimmer of his old life, when playing a video game was a recreational activity, not an inconceivable feat. Through a headband strapped to his forehead, Blatt was able to manipulate a Nintendo game by controlling his brain waves and facial movements.

“It was smile from ear to ear,” said Blatt who has practically no motor control in his arms and hands. “Absolutely fascinating.”

Researcher Marion Terenzio says the day has come when computers can read our minds. Terenzio, a professor of psychology and music therapy at Russell Sage, is studying the BioLink, a computer which uses electrodes to interpret brain waves into movement.

Participants strap electrode-rich headbands to their heads, sit back and let their brains do the work.

Terenzio said that if BioLink does all it promises, its applications are limitless.

So far, the BioLink technology is being tested at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to help pilots fly jets, and its inventor, Andrew Junker, has even used it to steer his boat. Junker, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, said he’s collaborating with Terenzio to achieve his ultimate goal for BioLink—to improve the quality of life for those who could best benefit from it.

Terenzio said she believes BioLink could help the physically disabled as well as those suffering from debilitating illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer and AIDS. “One of their problems is they don’t have control of their body or environment,” she said. “We want to help them control their own lives. The (BioLink) allows people to do that.”

Terenzio’s study subjects don’t need to fly a plane or steer a boat. They need to be able to turn the lights on and off or change the volume on their TV. She believes, eventually, they’ll only need to think a certain thought to achieve those once-insurmountable goals.

But the remaining question is how to teach people to speak to BioLink. It’s not as simple as thinking you want to turn on the light and the light will go on for you Terenzio said.

Those using the BioLink learn through trial and error what thoughts or movements manipulate the computer.

Terenzio believes music can be the best gateway to learning how to control BioLink, and her study subjects use the computer to create songs.

Relaxing and thinking of soothing thoughts often will make the computer play quieter, more relaxing music. While tensing facial muscles and thinking more lively thoughts will change the tune.

Terenzio and her research collaborator, Patricia O’Connor, a Russell Sage psychology professor, said the music helps their subjects learn how to use the BioLink faster and also helps them to relax. “Music as a stimulus has profound effects on people’s bodies and people’s emotions,” she said. “By using music, you can activate people’s emotions immediately.”

Junker and his wife, Patricia Schneider, have founded a company called Brain Actuated Technology to market BioLink.

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[Note:1] Associated Press, Troy, New York, 1993.