{"id":29312,"date":"2026-07-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/?p=29312"},"modified":"2026-07-22T09:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:25:26","slug":"casey-harrell-lost-his-voice-to-als-then-a-brain-implant-handed-part-of-it-back-and-the-moment-stunned-his-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/metabolic\/en\/psychology\/casey-harrell-lost-his-voice-to-als-then-a-brain-implant-handed-part-of-it-back-and-the-moment-stunned-his-doctors-29312\/","title":{"rendered":"Casey Harrell lost his voice to ALS, then a brain implant handed part of it back, and the moment stunned his doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Casey Harrell, holding a conversation had become a slow, demanding process. ALS had severely weakened his movement and speech, leaving him reliant on an interpreter or letter-by-letter typing with a head-controlled mouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new implanted brain-computer interface now turns his attempted speech into text and lets him control a computer cursor at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 19 months, he used the system for more than 3,800 hours and communicated 183,060 sentences containing nearly 2 million words. His average speed reached 56 words per minute, and he rated 92% of everyday sentences as at least mostly correct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger breakthrough is independence, since it worked almost daily without researchers on site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What ALS takes away<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive disease that damages motor neurons, the nerve cells<\/a> controlling voluntary muscles. As it advances, walking, talking, chewing, and breathing can become difficult as the brain loses control of those movements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: Your gut may be acting like a second brain, and neurosurgeons say it can quietly influence your mood through what you eat\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A person may still know exactly what they want to say, but the muscles needed to say it no longer cooperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the implant, Harrell communicated at roughly 6 to 7 words per minute with his existing methods. The new system was more than eight times faster on average. In everyday life, that can mean answering a question before the conversation has already moved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the brain implant works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The work was led by Nicholas Card, Sergey Stavisky, and David Brandman at the University of California, Davis. Collaborators came from the University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center at Utrecht University, Brown University, and Massachusetts General Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, surgeons placed four microelectrode arrays, small grids with a total of 256 electrodes, in Harrell\u2019s left speech motor cortex. A brain-computer interface<\/a> acts like a bridge between brain activity and a machine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he tries to speak, software detects signal patterns and converts them into likely sounds and words on a screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Utilizing an advanced implanted brain-computer interface, ALS patient Casey Harrell successfully communicated nearly 2 million words from home over 19 months.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speech and computer control together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The implant does more than generate text. Harrell can imagine moving or squeezing his right hand to guide a cursor and click, while eye tracking helps him switch tools and select controls. The text can also be read aloud by a synthetic voice<\/a> designed to resemble the voice he had before ALS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That combination gave him access to email, text messages, web browsing, video calls, and work. He continued full-time employment despite severe paralysis<\/a>. Through the system, he described having \u201ca life that is more full of dynamic action\u201d with family, friends, and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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