T here’s a 3D hand on a black screen. J. Galen Buckwalter concentrates on the image, trying to move one of the virtual hand’s fingers — with his mind.

For more than 50 years, Buckwalter hasn’t felt his fingers after breaking his neck in an accident as a teenager. But today, thanks to a research lab at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) that implanted him with a brain computer interface (BCI), Buckwalter is a pioneer exploring the frontiers of brain science.

Buckwalter only needed a couple of sessions to master the control of a computer cursor — some participants needed much longer. Now he attempts to move two fingers and a thumb. A large blue dot slides back and forth over the virtual index finger as he tries to coax it to life. Eventually he can move all three digits — and c

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