The Man with the Bionic Brain And Other Victories over Paralysis

by Mukand, Jon

• ISBN13: 9781613740552
• ISBN10: 1613740557
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-01
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary

A behind-the-scenes view of cutting-edge medical research and discoveries that are helping people with disabilities regain control, this book is an insightful look into the possibilities of technology and the associated ethical, political, social, and financial controversies. After he was stabbed and paralyzed from the neck down, Matthew Nagle, a former high school football star, made scientific history when neurosurgeons implanted microelectrodes in his brain that recognized his thought patterns, allowing him to control a computer cursor. With the BrainGate system he was able to use e-mail, manipulate a prosthetic hand, adjust TV settings, and play video gamesall just by thinking. Dr. Jon Mukand, his research physician and a rehabilitation specialist, weaves together Matt's story with firsthand accounts of other courageous survivors of stroke, spinal injuries, and brain trauma and the amazing technology that improves their lives. Not only a discussion of scientific advances in the battle against paralysis, The Man with the Bionic Brainis an inspirational book about how biomedicine gives hope to people with disabilities and enables them to take control of their lives.

Author Biography

Jon Mukand, MD, PhD, is rehabilitation medicine specialist and medical director of the Southern New England Rehabilitation Center and serves on the clinical faculty of Brown University and Tufts University. He is the editor of Vital Lines: Contemporary Fiction about Medicine, Articulations: The Body and Illness in Poetry, and Rehabilitation for Patients with HIV Disease. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. ix
At the Gateway to the Brain
Matt, June 22, 2004	p. 3
The Hunting Knife at the Beach Party
Matt, July 3 to 15, 2001	p. 11
Stairway to Recovery
Anna lacono	p. 31
Alive in the Electric Chair
Matt, July to September 2001	p. 47
Parade with the Patriots
Matt, Late 2001 to Early 2002	p. 69
Riding with an Electric Leg
Patricia Wines	p. 87
Mt. Sinai's Medical Commandments and the Wheelchair Superman
Matt, Late 2002 to 2003	p. 101
Monkeys Playing Video Games
Brain Gate, Late 2003	p. 121
A Walk Around the Lake
Linda Holmes	p. 133
Navigating a Study Through Two Research Review Boards
Brain Gate and Cybernetics, December 2003 to Early 2004	p. 143
Play It Again
Kathy Spencer	p. 161
The Antiseptic Baptism and the Neurosurgeon's Gift
Matt, May to June 2004	p. 175
Wired, Connected, and Waiting for Signals
Matt, June to December 2004	p. 197
Skating Away from a Stroke
Garrett Mendez	p. 221
The Bionic Man
Matt, 2005	p. 239
Imagining a God
Matt, 2006	p. 263
A Starship Trooper's Electronic Suit
Floyd Morrow	p. 275
In Flight
Matt, Early 2007	p. 285
Aflame in Red Chrysanthemums
Matt, July 2007	p. 301
Passing the Baton in the Race with Paralysis	p. 309
Epilogue	p. 313
Acknowledgments	p. 325
Notes	p. 330
Index	p. 339
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