U.S. researchers have come one step closer to using brain activity to control computers, according to this BBC News story. The team reported that four subjects – including two partially paralyzed people – moved a cursor on a computer screen with the help of 65 electrodes, which were attached using a special cap.

From the BBC:

“Brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. Complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer.”

The preliminary research found that the paralyzed subjects were better at learning and manipulating the cursor because their brains were more adaptable, the scientists hypothesized.