![]() ![]() We all have different “voice boxes” that have different mechanical properties and produce speech of different pitches. In particular, a man who speaks with a low pitched voice produces sound waves that are composed of low frequencies, whereas a woman who has a high pitched voice produces sound waves that are composed of higher frequencies. However, this sound is composed of several frequencies that vary over time. When someone speaks out loud, one sound is heard by the listener. When three chords are plucked at the same time, the resulting sound wave is the sum of all three individual sound waves. On the other hand, when the string “B” of the guitar is plucked, it results in a high pitched sound, because the chord vibrates at a higher frequency. This is because the chord vibrates at low frequency. When the string “A” of the guitar is plucked, it results in a low pitched sound. The fact that we perceive sounds of different pitch is because sound waves have different frequencies ( Figure 2). For instance, when a guitar is plucked, a sound wave is created and travels through the air. A sound wave travels through the air and you hear a sound when the sound wave reaches your ear and vibrates your eardrum. ![]() A sound is a wave, and sound waves can be formed from many sources, such as a dog barking, a tree falling, a thunder from a storm, or a person speaking. When we speak out loud, we produce sounds. This process is highly complex, and researchers have been working for years to understand how language is encoded in the brain. During these conversations, we listen to people, we think about the topic in question and produce speech to reply and interact with people. In everyday life, we exchange thoughts and ideas through language and communication. In our study, we want to translate brain activity generated while thinking into audible and understandable speech sounds. With the help of some language rules, a translator can map French words to English words, eventually allowing you to understand what your friend is saying. After many years of studying these two languages, we know how they relate to each other. For instance, if you do not speak French, but you want to understand what your friend is saying in French, what do you need? You need a translator. Our approach is a little bit like translating a foreign language into your own language. Mathematical tools are used to decode and translate the brain electrical activity into understandable speech. Thoughts are mapped to the brain activity. ![]() The brain electrical activity is recorded using electrodes (red circles) placed directly at the surface of the brain, beneath the skull. Then, to understand how the speaking brain works, we need mathematical tools ( Figure 1C) to translate the brain activity into speech that is understandable and audible to everyone ( Figure 1D). Second, we also need to understand how speech is stored and processed in the brain ( Figure 1B). First, we need to record people’s brain activity using the latest technology available ( Figure 1A). Cool, right?īut, building such a device is very challenging for scientists, as several complicated elements need to be figured out. In this study, we tried to decode what people think, as a first step toward building a mind-reading device that can speak out loud the words people wish to say. These patients would benefit from a device that could read their minds, translate their brain activity, and speak out loud the words they cannot say. Their brains are fully functional and they can think normally, but their bodies are not responding anymore. These people are prisoners of their own bodies. ![]() Many people suffer from severe paralysis, which is a problem with moving their arms and legs, and some of them cannot communicate what they want to say despite being fully aware and having words in their minds. This was our first attempt at translating thoughts to speech, and we hope to get much better, as many patients who cannot speak but have thoughts in their minds could benefit from a “speech decoder.” We showed that we could decode some parts of the sound of what patients were thinking. We then tried to decode and translate the words that they imagined into audible sounds. In our study, we placed electrodes beneath patients’ skulls, directly at the surface of the brain, and measured brain activity while the patients were thinking. They can think by themselves and would benefit from a device that could read their minds and translate their thoughts into audible speech. These patients cannot speak with their friends, but their brains are still working well. Many people cannot communicate because of their physical problems, such as paralysis. ![]()
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