This article was published in one of the biggest daily newspapers in Sweden 2011, I have translated it via Google.
Scientists have created mind-reading machine
Researchers have been using old technology to create what they call a " mind reading machine" . With electrodes placed directly on the brain , a computer can record the exact words a subject is thinking about.
14 May 2011 at 20:51 , updated : 15 May 2011 at 09:48
The technique is called ECoG ( electrocorticography ) and means that electrodes placed under the skull and the meninges directly on the brain itself .
ECoG has been used since the 1950s to document what part of the brain that are activated when such a seizure . In recent years the electrodes used for the brain help control the prosthesis.
But the latest research is that using ECoG show how the brain processes language and also decode our thoughts.
Researchers at the American Wadsworth Center now report that they can combine technology with modern software to a computer to see what word a subject thinks of .
- This is both very exciting and also a little scary. We really pretty close to what people used to call mind reading , says Gerwin Schalk at the radio station NPR .
For example , researchers can monitor what happens in the brain when a song is played and show the same brain activity is repeated if the music is played again. The data also show the same activity when patients just thinking about the piece of music .
- The brain tells much more about the music during the times when there is no music playing , says Schalk .
The reason that ECoG is so effective is that the technology picks up signals from various parts of the brain.
Electrodes placed inside the brain is accurate but has only contact with a certain area. Electrodes on the skin maintains contact with large areas but where the information is not as specific.
ECoG which lies somewhere in between is an ideal middle ground. A surgical procedure is required to place the pads but no incision is made in the brain . Neurosurgeon Eric Leuthardt who worked with Gerwin Schalk at the project says that progress in the area now happening at a furious pace. - Every other week we find something that really makes us scratch our heads and think we found something cool .
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