They found that, from the EEG signals alone, they could deduce which movement this patient had been instructed to imagine with 100% accuracy.

ECONOMIST: Vegetative state

Since picking up EEG signals and interpreting them accurately can be tricky, the group says it settled on monitoring EMG waves, which are triggered by muscle movements, for additional reliability.

ENGADGET

Such brain-computer interfaces require that the user wear an EEG cap to measure brain signals, but setting one up is very complicated.

CNN: Brain-controlled devices may help paralyzed people

Dr Contreras-Vidal's approach gets round these difficulties by employing electroencephalography (EEG), which measures those electrical signals from the brain that reach the scalp.

ECONOMIST: Bionics (I)

Early last year Honda demonstrated how their robot Asimo could lift an arm or a leg through signals sent wirelessly from a system operated by a user with an EEG cap.

BBC: The robot that reads your mind to train itself