Patient T6 was barely middle-aged when she began losing muscle function.
A talented musician with a love for red lipstick, T6 was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive—and unstoppable—neurodegenerative disorder that eats away at motor neurons that control movement. Speech and swallowing are generally the first to go. In just a few years, T6 was paralyzed and hooked to a ventilator to breathe.
T6’s story may have ended there. Although modern neurotechnologies have given paralyzed patients mind-controlled robotic limbs or even the ability to walk again, brain-machine interfaces haven’t been able to reopen access to a similarly indispensable world: the digital universe that gives us email, Google, YouTube, and all the associated conveniences.