The Brain Speaks: Scientists Decode Words from Brain Signals

[SedesDomi]

It was only a matter of time.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2010) — In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the skull but atop the brain.

“We have been able to decode spoken words using only signals from the brain with a device that has promise for long-term use in paralyzed patients who cannot now speak,” says Bradley Greger, an assistant professor of bioengineering.

Because the method needs much more improvement and involves placing electrodes on the brain, he expects it will be a few years before clinical trials on paralyzed people who cannot speak due to so-called “locked-in syndrome.”

The Journal of Neural Engineering’s September issue is publishing Greger’s study showing the feasibility of translating brain signals into computer-spoken words.

 

[Windfish]

I do not understand. What do you think are the philosophical implications of this?

 

[tonyrey]

It was only a matter of time.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2010) — In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the skull but atop the brain.

“We have been able to decode spoken words using only signals from the brain with a device that has promise for long-term use in paralyzed patients who cannot now speak,” says Bradley Greger, an assistant professor of bioengineering.

Because the method needs much more improvement and involves placing electrodes on the brain, he expects it will be a few years before clinical trials on paralyzed people who cannot speak due to so-called “locked-in syndrome.”

The Journal of Neural Engineering’s September issue is publishing Greger’s study showing the feasibility of translating brain signals into computer-spoken words.

It is obvious that signals from the brain cause people to speak but what causes the brain to make those signals? That is the real question…

 

[Soulewolf]

neurotransmitters. beneath that, there are studies that show that the quantum interactions in the brain might have much to do with consciousness. I personally wonder how wave functions in the brain might effect this.

 

[tonyrey]

neurotransmitters. beneath that, there are studies that show that the quantum interactions in the brain might have much to do with consciousness. I personally wonder how wave functions in the brain might effect this.

If consciousness is the result of brain activity the brain must know that it exists! How do electrical impulses acquire insight, grasp abstract concepts and become aware of themselves?

 

[Barbkw]

God made some pretty smart vessels of water!

“The human body is more than 60 percent water. Blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water.”

 

[Alexander_Smith]

God made some pretty smart vessels of water!

“The human body is more than 60 percent water. Blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water.”

Ain’t’cha never watched “The Abyss” ?

 

[SedesDomi]

I do not understand. What do you think are the philosophical implications of this?

Not too far off in the future, we will have the ability to make brain probes that are practically invisible, giving us the power to surreptitiously “record” someone’s brain waves, and then translate those waves into words – thus, giving us (or someone, perhaps your mother-in-law) the power to read your mind, without you knowing what is happening. The days of your own thoughts being private to yourself will be over. (Of course, psychics can already do this, so it’s really no big deal.)