Direct Neural Interface - Brain to Speech Synthesis

In what may be a breakthrough, a research team at Boston University has been recording the neural firing in the speech areas of the brain belonging to Mr. Eric Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey is unable to speak. He has been paralyzed but conscious for the past eight years, following a car accident.

The team claims that they can correctly identify the sound that Mr. Ramsey is "imagining" about 80% of the time. Now that they have trained their computer algorithm to this level, the research will now move towards translating these "imagined" sounds, the "thoughts" of Mr. Ramsey, directly into speech. This will involve providing Mr. Ramsey with real-time feedback so that he may learn to adjust has ability to "think out loud".

If it works, it will be a major advance for neuroscience. However, it has not come as a complete surprise. Researchers have been progressively improving at decoding primitive vocabulary for some time.

The wireless electrode probe, which is surgically implanted just six-millimeters below the surface of his brain, records pulses from 41 surrounding neurons involved in speech generation. Although the technique is invasive it may offer hope for many paralyzed people to speak. Certainly, we would like to hear the words of Dr. Hawking once again.

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