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Usually, I write drafts on a computer because I type faster than I write, and because I can name the document, file it on my computer, and find it afterward. But in class, when I give a freewrite ...

Patricia Loring, a research associate at Carnegie Mellon University, presses tiny blue dots on my fingers and the back of my hand. She tells me to adjust the keyboard as she maneuvers three webcams.

Researchers have demonstrated that when humans use brain-computer interfaces, the brain behaves much like it does when completing simple motor skills such as kicking a ball, typing or waving a hand.