“I have a lot to say,” paralyzed woman says through brain implant that reads her thoughts

A Michigan woman in her 60s who has lost much of her ability to speak has used a brain implant to communicate her own words in real time, according to CBS. She is the first participant in Paradromics’ Connect-One clinical study and received the company’s first long-term human implant. A progressive motor neuron disease has severely limited her speech, though her husband can often still understand her.

Surgeons at University of Michigan Health implanted the Connexus brain-computer interface in June. When the system was activated for free speech, her first sentence was “Okay, I have a lot to say,” and Paradromics said it was decoded with no errors. She later answered open-ended questions and used the brain implant to talk with her grandchildren during a live phone call.

The device does not read unrestricted thoughts. It records electrical activity from the motor cortex, the brain area involved in producing speech, and machine-learning software converts those patterns into text and synthesized speech. Paradromics said it has identified separate neural patterns for attempted speech and imagined speech, along with listening and preparing to speak.

Imagined speech could make these devices far less tiring, but that part is still being studied

Many brain-computer interfaces work by detecting attempted speech, such as when someone tries to move their tongue or jaw to form words. For people with severe paralysis, that effort can be tiring, which is why researchers are also exploring imagined speech that requires no physical movement. Paradromics says the woman has so far communicated in real time using attempted speech.

The Connexus brain implant uses 421 microelectrodes, each smaller than a human hair, which reach 1.5 millimeters below the brain’s surface to record individual neurons. Those signals travel to a chest transceiver that sends data wirelessly through the skin to an external computer. The wireless setup matters, as many experimental interfaces have relied on a cable connected through the skull.

Other teams have already shown fast brain-to-speech systems, including a UCSF system that reached about 47.5 words per minute with a large vocabulary in 2025. Paradromics is aiming for a fully implanted, wireless brain implant that works as an everyday assistive device rather than lab equipment. It is one of several companies moving the technology toward patients, alongside Neuralink and Gabe Newell’s brain chip startup.

These results have not been published in a peer-reviewed paper and come from Paradromics and its ongoing clinical study. The company has not released detailed metrics such as long-term reliability or large-scale word-error rates.

The brain implant is not yet FDA-approved for general use. Last year, the FDA allowed Paradromics to begin an early clinical trial to test the device’s safety and its ability to help patients communicate and control computers. The company would still need to complete more studies and go through additional FDA reviews before the implant could be sold commercially.

Durability is one of the biggest questions for these implants, as scar tissue or tiny electrode movements can degrade signals over time. Paradromics has set a design goal of stable recordings for more than 10 years, but that remains a target. The participant will be followed for six years, which should show whether the brain implant holds up.

More participants could receive the Connexus brain implant as the Connect-One study continues at three sites, including UC Davis Health and Mass General Brigham.