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“Like taking away a part of myself” ― life after a neural implant trial

Neural implants can give people with neurological disorders a new lease on life. But it can all be taken all away at the end of the trial.
  1. Liam Drew

    1. Freelance writer, London, UK

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Neurotech

Credit: Traffic_analyzer/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty

By her late 40s, Rita Leggett’s epilepsy had brought her to a dark place. The possibility of a seizure meant she would leave her house only when accompanied by her mother or taken to see her neurologist in Melbourne. When this neurologist suggested she enroll in a trial to test a device that would warn her of impending epileptic activity ― an experimental brain implant ― she jumped at the opportunity. Three years later, when the device was removed, Rita was heartbroken.

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Nature Medicine 26, 1154-1156 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41591-020-00028-8

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