Matt Nagle

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Matthew Nagle (born 1979 or 1980; 25 years old as of 2005) became one of the first people to use a brain-computer interface to restore functionality lost due to paralysis. He is a C4 tetraplegic, paralyzed from the neck down after being stabbed.

Cyberkinetics, in conjunction with Professor John Donoghue of the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, built the interface, called BrainGate, in 2003. Nagle agreed to participate in BrainGate's clinical trials out of desire to again be healthy and lead a normal life, and in hopes that modern medical discoveries can help him.

The device was implanted on June 22, 2004 by neurosurgeon Gerhard Friehs. A 100-electrode "Utah Array" was placed on the surface of his brain over the region of motor cortex that controlled his dominant left hand and arm. A link connected it to the outside of his skull, where it could be connected to a computer. The computer was then trained to recognize Nagle's thought patterns and associate them with movements he was trying to achieve.

While he was implanted, Matt could control a computer "mouse" cursor, using it then to press buttons that can control TV, check e-mail, and do basically everything that can be done by pressing buttons. He could draw (although the cursor control is not precise) on the screen. He could also send commands to an external prosthetic hand (close and open). The results of the study are published in the journal Nature. Per Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and the study protocol, the BrainGate device was removed from him after approximately one year.

I can't put it into words. It's just—I use my brain. I just thought it. I said, "Cursor go up to the top right." And it did, and now I can control it all over the screen. It will give me a sense of independence.

—Matt Nagle, Matthew Nagle

Nagle, a former star football player at Weymouth High School (class of 1998), was leaving the town’s annual fireworks show near Wessagussett Beach on July 3, 2001, when a fight broke out among two large groups. He was stabbed and his spinal cord severed when he stepped in to help a friend.