This ALS patient has a brain implant that translates his thoughts to computer commands

CNN  — Staring at a computer screen, Mark focuses deeply, his arms resting by his side. His right index finger trembles ever so slightly on top of a pillow, and then an alert rings out from the screen in front of him, a message to a caregiver that he needs assistance.

Without ever clicking a mouse or touching a screen, Mark selected this command on his computer simply using signals from his brain. Mark, whom CNN agreed to identify using only his first name for privacy reasons, has an implant inside his brain that is translating his neural activity to commands on a computer.