Foreign Relations Of The United States

In a once unimagined accomplishment, electrodes implanted in the man’s brain transmit signals lớn a computer that displays his words.

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Dr. Eddie Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School helped Pancho, a man paralyzed since age 20, speak through an implant in his brain that connects lớn a computer program.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The thành phố new york Times



He has not been able to lớn speak since 2003, when he was paralyzed at age 20 by a severe stroke after a terrible oto crash.

Now, in a scientific milestone, researchers have tapped into the speech areas of his brain — allowing him to lớn produce comprehensible words & sentences simply by trying to lớn say them. When the man, known by his nickname, Pancho, tries lớn speak, electrodes implanted in his brain transmit signals to lớn a computer that displays his intended words on the screen.

His first recognizable sentence, researchers said, was, “My family is outside.”

The achievement, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could eventually help many patients with conditions that steal their ability khổng lồ talk.

“This is farther than we’ve ever imagined we could go,” said Melanie Fried-Oken, a professor of neurology and pediatrics at Oregon Health và Science University, who was not involved in the project.


Three years ago, when Pancho, now 38, agreed to lớn work with neuroscience researchers, they were unsure if his brain had even retained the mechanisms for speech.

“That part of his brain might have been dormant, và we just didn’t know if it would ever really wake up in order for him lớn speak again,” said Dr. Edward Chang, chairman of neurological surgery at University of California, San Francisco, who led the research.

The team implanted a rectangular sheet of 128 electrodes, designed to detect signals from speech-related sensory and motor processes linked lớn the mouth, lips, jaw, tongue and larynx. In 50 sessions over 81 weeks, they connected the implant to lớn a computer by a cable attached to a port in Pancho’s head, và asked him to lớn try khổng lồ say words from a danh mục of 50 common ones he helped suggest, including “hungry,” “music” and “computer.”

As he did, electrodes transmitted signals through a size of artificial intelligence that tried to recognize the intended words.


“Our system translates the brain activity that would have normally controlled his vocal tract directly into words & sentences,” said David Moses, a postdoctoral engineer who developed the system with Sean Metzger & Jessie R. Liu, graduate students. The three are lead authors of the study.


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Dr. Chang prepared to lớn connect Pancho’s implant to lớn the computer, which uses a form of artificial intelligence to recognize the words he intends to say.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The new york Times
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On a video call with The new york Times, Pancho communicated using a painstaking method involving a head-controlled mouse that he directs to type out letters one-by-one.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The new york Times
Pancho (who asked to lớn be identified only by his nickname khổng lồ protect his privacy) also tried to lớn say the 50 words in 50 distinct sentences lượt thích “My nurse is right outside” and “Bring my glasses, please” và in response to questions lượt thích “How are you today?”

His answer, displayed onscreen: “I am very good.”

In nearly half of the 9,000 times Pancho tried to lớn say single words, the algorithm got it right. When he tried saying sentences written on the screen, it did even better.

By funneling algorithm results through a kind of autocorrect language-prediction system, the computer correctly recognized individual words in the sentences nearly three-quarters of the time and perfectly decoded entire sentences more than half the time.

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“To prove that you can decipher speech from the electrical signals in the speech motor area of your brain is groundbreaking,” said Dr. Fried-Oken, whose own research involves trying lớn detect signals using electrodes in a cap placed on the head, not implanted.

After a recent session, observed by The thủ đô new york Times, Pancho, wearing a black fedora over a white knit hat to lớn cover the port, smiled & tilted his head slightly with the limited movement he has. In bursts of gravelly sound, he demonstrated a sentence composed of words in the study: “No, I am not thirsty.”