Findings from First Participant in Cyberkinetics' BrainGate Study Published in Nature; Discoveries Support Feasibility of Brain-Controlled Prosthetic and Assistive Devices for Paralyzed Patients

Business Wire, July 12, 2006

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: CYKN; "Cyberkinetics") today reported that scientific findings from the first participant in the Company's ongoing pilot clinical trials of the BrainGate Neural Interface System (BrainGate) are featured on the July 13, 2006, cover of the journal Nature. This research, which has unlocked new information about how to restore movement following damage to the nervous system, was published by a team of clinical trial collaborators from Cyberkinetics, Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, the Sargent Rehabilitation Center, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago.

In the Nature article, the authors describe the technology advances that allowed the first pilot trial participant, a 25-year-old with spinal cord injury, to control a computer and robotic devices using brain activity detected by the BrainGate System. The team also discusses the performance of a second trial participant, a 55-year-old with spinal cord injury, who remains a participant in the pilot trial of the BrainGate System.

As reported in Nature, these data represent the first peer-reviewed, published clinical evidence that support important steps in the creation of useful brain-controlled assistive technologies to provide independence to persons with paralysis. These findings include the first evidence that a person with severe paralysis, years after a spinal cord injury, continues to have the ability to voluntarily generate movement signals in his primary motor cortex, the area of the brain responsible for voluntary movement. The researchers also found that neural spiking - the language of the brain - can be recorded in humans, routed outside the brain and decoded into movement commands. Importantly, the report describes that a paralyzed person can successfully use the intention to move, in the form of neural spiking patterns, to demonstrate real-time, continuous, two-dimensional control of a computer cursor, as well as to operate a prosthetic hand and control a multi-joint robotic arm.

According to John Donoghue, senior author of the paper, Chief Scientific Officer of Cyberkinetics, Professor and Director of the Brain Science Program at Brown University, "We now have direct, compelling evidence that the area of the brain that controls movement remains functional even years after a spinal cord injury in the absence of a neural connection from the brain to the limbs."

Donoghue continued, "Furthermore, we now have a greater understanding of how the human brain controls movement. Our findings suggest that limb movement originates in the brain as distinct and predictable patterns of neural activity. The fact that these patterns can be changed by imagining movement and can also be quickly translated into a control signal by computer algorithms holds promise for the ability to create a useful interface to aid persons with paralysis. These results also hold promise to one day be able to activate limb muscles with these brain signals, effectively restoring brain-to-muscle control via a physical nervous system."

"As a physician, I do whatever I can to optimize the recovery of patients with paralyzing disorders such as stroke, spinal cord injury or neuromuscular disease," stated Leigh R. Hochberg, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and a Principal Investigator in Cyberkinetics' pilot trial of the BrainGate System. "The available assistive technologies, however, provide neither sufficient independence nor mobility. Thanks to the generosity and pioneering spirit of our initial trial participants, who have volunteered without expecting to derive any personal benefit, important progress is being made in developing a real-time neuromotor prosthesis. Though much work remains to be done, hopefully one day, I'll be able to say, 'we have a technology that will allow you to move again.'"

"The findings reported today highlight the power of Cyberkinetics' neural interface technology and clearly demonstrate our leadership position in the rapidly growing field of neurotechnology," said Timothy R. Surgenor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyberkinetics. "We are eager to expand on this initial proof-of-concept and continue the development of the BrainGate System to provide an important new operating system for people with severe disabilities."

About the BrainGate System

The BrainGate Neural Interface System is a proprietary, investigational brain-computer interface (BCI) that consists of an internal sensor to detect brain cell activity and external processors that convert these brain signals into a computer-mediated output under the person's own control. The sensor is a tiny silicon chip about the size of a baby aspirin with one hundred electrodes, each thinner than a human hair, that can detect the electrical activity of neurons. The sensor is implanted on the surface of the area of the brain responsible for movement, the motor cortex. A small wire connects the sensor to a pedestal that is placed on the skull, extending through the scalp. An external cable connects the pedestal to a cart containing computers, signal processors and monitors that enable the study operators to determine how well study participants can control devices driven by their neural output - that is, by thought alone.