Scientists are now able to “decode” the thoughts of people without ever touching their heads. The Scientist reported.
The use of mind-reading techniques in the past was a common method Implanting electrodes deep in peoples’ brains. Instead, the new method relies on a preprint database bioRxiv’s 29 September report. Noninvasive brain scanningFunctional means: Resonance imaging (fMRI).
fMRI monitors the flow of oxygenated body through the BrainThis information is an indirect measure of brain activity, as active brain cells require more energy and oxygen.
Because the brain is constantly moving, the scanning method can’t capture actual brain activity.
Surprisingly, however, the study authors discovered that even though they couldn’t produce word for word translations, they could still use the imperfect proxy measure to decode people’s thoughts.
Senior author: “If you asked any cognitive neuroscientist anywhere in the world 20-years ago if this was possible, they would have laughed at you.” Alexander HuthAccording to a University of Texas neuroscientist, “The University of Texas at Austin” The Scientist.
Related: The brain has a ‘universal language network’
The team examined the brains from two men and one women in their 20s, 30s, for the new study. It has not been peer-reviewed. The scanner allowed each participant to listen to 16 hours of radio and podcast shows in total over multiple sessions.
The team fed the scans to a computer algorithm, which they called a decoder. It compared patterns found in the audio to those in the recorded brain activity.
Huth said that the algorithm could then use an fMRI recording to generate a story. The story would correspond with the original plot of the podcast, radio show or podcast “pretty well.” The Scientist.
This means that the decoder could use brain activity to determine which story each participant has heard.
However, there were some errors made by the algorithm, such as switching characters’ pronouns, and using the first or third person. Huth explained that it “knows the facts pretty well, but does not know who is doing them.”
Additional tests showed that the algorithm could accurately describe the plot of silent movies that participants viewed in the scanner. It can even retell stories that participants have imagined in their heads.
Long-term, the research group aims to develop the technology in brain-computer interfaces that are designed for people with disabilities.
Learn more about the new decoder algorithm here The Scientist.
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This article was originally published in Live Science. Please read the Original article here.
