Willett et al. / Nature 2021 / E.Rica Woodrum
For the first time, a team of researchers decoded the nerve signals associated with typing letters and then displayed digital copies of those letters in real time.
When an injury or illness deprives a person of the ability to move, the nerve activity of the brain into walking, picking up a cup, or saying a phrase stays put.
Some people who have lost their hands can use a computer with speech recognition. For those who find it difficult to speak, scientists have developed other methods to help them communicate.
Scientists are exploring several approaches that people with disabilities can achieve Communicate with your thoughts. Now, for the first time, a team of researchers has deciphered the brain activity associated with trying to write letters by hand.
The team worked with a 65-year-old participant who suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Jimmy HendersonA Stanford University neurosurgeon implanted two tiny sensors in the part of the brain that controls the hand and arm.
By using the signals that the sensors picked up from individual neurons when they imagined themselves writing, a machine learning algorithm Pattern recognition Produced by the brain with every letter. However, the system displayed the text on the screen – in real time.
According to anyone ReleaseCo-Books 90 characters per minute – More than double the previous writing record using the “Brain-Computer Interface”.
This brain-to-computer interface (BCI) called “Brain-to-Text” is very fast because each letter is excited A very distinct activity patternThis makes it relatively easy for the algorithm to distinguish them from one another, says neuroscientist Frank Willett.
a second Krishna ShinuiResearcher at Howard Hughes Medical Institute From Stanford University, this innovation could, with further development, allow paralyzed people to write quickly without using their hands.
The team envisions using the handwriting attempt to enter text as part of a more comprehensive system that also includes navigation, pointing, and clicking.
After that, the team plans to work with The participant who cannot speakFor example, someone with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes loss of movement and speech.
The study was Published This month in the scientific journal nature.
Maria Campos, ZAP // 
George Orwell is a writer and contributor covering politics, society, culture, and current affairs. His work focuses on providing clear analysis and thoughtful commentary on the issues shaping modern Britain and the wider world, helping readers better understand complex topics.
