美国研制出脑电波“翻译器”

美国犹他州立大学的研究人员近期在一份研究报告中宣布，他们可以通过电脑将人类脑电波翻译成文字，且准确率最高可达90%。如果发展成熟，这样的“读脑器”将能够读懂任何人的心思。

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Researchers have been able to translate brain signals into speech using sensors attached to the surface of the brain for the first time.

Researchers have been able to translate brain signals into speech using sensors attached to the surface of the brain for the first time.

The breakthrough, which is up to 90 percent accurate, offers a way to communicate for paralyzed（瘫痪的，麻痹的） patients who cannot speak and could eventually lead to being able to read anyone thoughts.

"We were beside ourselves with excitement when it started working," said Professor Bradley Greger, a bioengineer at Utah University who led the team of researchers.

"I would call it brain reading and we hope that in two or three years it will be available for use for paralyzed patients."

The experimental breakthrough came when the team attached two button sized grids² of 16 tiny electrodes to the speech centers of the brain of an epileptic（癫痫的） patient. The sensors were attached to the surface of the brain. The patient had had part of his skull³ removed for another operation to treat his condition.

Using the electrodes, the scientists recorded brain signals in a computer as the patient repeatedly read each of 10 words that might be useful to a paralyzed person: yes, no, hot, cold, hungry, thirsty, hello, goodbye, more and less.

Then they got him to repeat the words to the computer and it was able to match the brain signals for each word 76 percent to 90 percent of the time. The computer picked up the patient’s brain waves as he talked and did not use any voice recognition software.

Because just thinking a word – and not saying it – is thought to produce the same brain signals, Prof Greger and his team believe that soon they will be able to have translation device and voice box that repeats the word you are thinking.

What is more, the brains of people who are paralyzed are often healthy and produce the same signals as those in able bodied people – it is just they are blocked by injury from reaching the muscle.

The researchers said the method needs improvement, but could lead in a few years to clinical trials on paralyzed people who cannot speak due to so-called "locked-in" syndrome⁴（综合症） .

People who eventually could benefit from a wireless⁵ device that converts thoughts into computer-spoken words include those paralyzed by stroke, disease and injury, Prof Greger said.

People who are now “locked in” often communicate with any movement they can make – blinking an eye or moving a hand slightly – to arduously⁶（严酷地，费力地） pick letters or words from a list.

The new device would allow them freedom to speak on their own.

The study, published in the journal of Neural⁷ Engineering, used a new kind of non-penetrating⁸ microelectrodes that sit on the brain without poking⁹ into it.

The first was attached to the face motor cortex（运动皮质） , which controls facial movement and is on the top left hand side of the brain.

The second was attached to the Wernicke's area, an area just above the left ear that acts as a sort of language translator for the brain.

Because the microelectrodes do not penetrate¹⁰ brain matter, they are considered safe to place on speech areas of the brain – something that cannot be done with penetrating electrodes that have been used in experimental devices to help paralyzed people control a computer cursor or an artificial arm.

The researchers were most accurate – 85 percent – in distinguishing brain signals for one word from those for another when they used signals recorded from the facial motor cortex.

They were less accurate – 76 percent – when using signals from Wernicke’s area.