PROVIDENCE – Technology developed by researchers at the Brown University-launched BrainGate collaborative has set a record in thought-to-text generation capabilities, according to a study published in the journal “Nature.”
BrainGate researchers implanted small sensors into the cerebral cortex of a clinical trial participant who had lost the ability to speak due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Through the sensors, the participant generated 62 words per minute on a computer screen “simply by attempting to speak,” the university said in a recent announcement.
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The BrainGate collaborative was founded at Brown and is led by researchers at the university’s Carney Institute for Brain Science.
The technology hasn’t progressed to “an actual device people can use in everyday life,” but it provides “scientific proof of concept” and “a big advancement toward restoring rapid communication to people with paralysis who can’t speak,” said Frank Willett, a lead author of the study and research scientist at Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Dr. Leigh Hochberg, a neurologist and a professor at the Brown University School of Engineering, is leading the clinical trial.
While thought-to-text technology isn’t unprecedented, the BrainGate technology allowed the participant to generate words three times faster than the previous record for assisted communication through brain-computer interfaces. In typical conversation, English speakers generate 160 words per minute.
Pat Bennett, a BrainGate clinical trials participant who lost her ability to speak due to ALS, said that the technology advancements can allow those who are nonverbal to “stay connected to the bigger world, perhaps continue to work, maintain friends and family relationships.
“Imagine how different conducting everyday activities like shopping, attending appointments, ordering food, going into a bank, talking on a phone, expressing love or appreciation – even arguing – will be when nonverbal people can communicate their thoughts in real time,” Bennett wrote.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
