Technological breakthroughs have made it possible for locked-in patients to communicate with thought alone. Electrodes implanted in their brain send signals to a computer. By this means, a patient can pick out letters on a computer screen. The process is very slow, though: one woman patient was able to “type” at the rate of one or two words per minute—and felt delighted to be able to do so.10 I have found it useful, when my word processor is balky, to contemplate her predicament.
