Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Part 1
Prelude: Pioneers in the Field of Brain to Computer Interfacing
Preface: Decades of Opening the Door to the Mind
Chapter 1. Breaking the Sound Barrier
Chapter 2.Some Superheroes Only Fly Inside
Chapter 3. Coding and Decoding Erik’s Inner Dialogue
Chapter 4. Believing in the Magic, Counting on the Science
Chapter 5. Unexpected Delays and Eureka Moments
Chapter 6. The Place Where “I” Exists
Chapter 7. Deep Presence: Understanding the “Here and Now”
Chapter 8. The Uncharted Waters of Research: ‘Here There Be Dragons’!
Part 2
Interviews with Erik’s Father and Contributions from Specialists Who Comment on the Field of Locked-In Research and How It Is Evolving
Part 3
Chapter 9. Erik’s Injury
Chapter 10. Meeting Dr. Kennedy
Chapter 11. The Implant Surgery
Chapter 12. Recording from Erik
Chapter 13. Using Single Units to Say “Da, Da”.
Chapter 14. Decoding Phonemes
Chapter 15. Moving from Vowel to Vowel
Chapter 16. The Effects of Emotion on Firing Rates
Chapter 17. Music Relates to Firing Rates
Chapter 18. Conditioning Single Units Nine Years after Implantation
Chapter 19. Limitations of Erik’s Recordings
Chapter 20. Phil’s Implantation Surgery
Chapter 21. Sensory and Motor Relationships
Chapter 22. Decoding Most Phonemes
Chapter 23. Decoding Audible and Silent Speech
Chapter 24. The Future Direction: Ready to Implant Locked-In People
Chapter 25. Why Not Use Other Electrodes and Systems?
Chapter 26. The Future is Almost Here
Afterword: The Father of the Cyborgs
Index
Endorsements
“This book has come at an important time in the evolution of the brain machine interface … Unlocking Erik tells the story from the human side – both in terms of Erik himself as the subject, and Dr. Kennedy as the pioneer. It is a journey of quiet and slow discovery, and has taken courage and risk from all sides.”
Professor Alexander Green
Neurosurgeon, University of Oxford, England
“With Dr. Kennedy widely regarded as one of the pioneers of this technology, he is uniquely placed to discuss the far-reaching consequences and ramifications of BCI, and this certainly helped attract the funding we needed to begin production of the documentary that tracks early breakthroughs in the field.”
David Burke,
Dot Television, Ireland
“Finally, with all the excitement of machine learning, we shouldn’t forget that we are talking about connecting to a neural network with more capabilities and far more creativity than anything that Google has made – the human brain! So let’s try to not forget the brain’s ability to learn.”
Andrew Jackson
Professor of Neural Interfaces, University of Newcastle, U.K.
“We know that neurons involved in internal “thinking” are also clearly controllable. As explored in Phil Kennedy’s study of Erik, the neurons involved in generating speech are a particularly important group of volitionally controllable neurons for speech prostheses.”
Eberhard Fetz
“This book tells a remarkable story. There is a group of patients rendered unable to communicate by a brutal medical misfortune. There is a new therapy involving special equipment… and there is the physician who manages their care… Dr. Kennedy has achieved remarkable success with his brain machine interfaces. He remains focused on the tremendous value of restoring speech to patients who are trapped inside their own bodies…”
Thomas Wichmann
Audience: It is written for neuroscientists at all stages, scientists in general, neurologists, general public, people suffering from locked-in syndrome, ALS Associations
Keywords: Locked-in syndrome; long-term brain recordings; speech prosthetic; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; brainstem stroke.
