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M.J. Friedrich

JAMA. 2004;291:2179-2181.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor-in-chief of the French magazine, Elle, recounts awaking one morning in 1995 to a body that was almost completely paralyzed (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997). A massive stroke in his brain stem left the 43-year-old editor's agile and creative mind virtually imprisoned in an unresponsive body. Bauby eventually composed his account of being "locked in" his body by blinking his left eye, the only means of communication available to him.

A neuromotor prosthetic device called the BrainGate system is designed to allow paralyzed patients to carry out point-and-click actions on a computer. It consists of a small sensor that is implanted into the primary motor cortex of the brain and connected to external components that process the brain signals detected by the sensor. (Photos courtesy of Cyberkinetics Inc)

As Bauby's literary achievement highlights, the desire . . . [Full Text of this Article]