Neuroscience researchers have found a way to help a paralyzed man to talk once more after being unable to speak for more than 20 years.
The researchers used a "brain-reading" kind of technology during their study, which resulted in the development of a neural implant used on the paralyzed man.
The neural implant was able to convert the man's thoughts into written words.
Neuroscience Researchers Help Paralyzed Man Speak: Brief Background
Neuroscience researchers were able to conduct their study with the help of a paralyzed man known by his nickname, Pancho.
According to The New York Times, Pancho, 38, was involved in a car crash more than 20 years ago. He suffered a stroke after the crash and has been unable to speak since 2003.
Pancho agreed to work with the neuroscience researchers in 2018. According to The New York Times report, the researchers were actually "unsure if his brain had even retained the mechanisms for speech."
According to Dr. Edward Chang, chairman of neurological surgery at University of California, San Francisco, who was quoted in the report, "That part of his brain might have been dormant, and we just didn't know if it would ever really wake up in order for him to speak again."
Dr. Chang led the team of neuroscience researchers who helped Pancho, per the New York Times report.
Neural Implant Helps Paralyzed Man Talk: How It Worked
For the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the neuroscience researchers said that they "implanted a subdural, high-density, multielectrode array over the area of the sensorimotor cortex that controls speech in a person with anarthria (the loss of the ability to articulate speech) and spastic quadriparesis caused by a brain-stem stroke."
To simply put, a rectangular sheet of 128 electrodes was implanted in Pancho's head. This electric sheet is "designed to detect signals from speech-related sensory and motor processes linked to the mouth, lips, jaw, tongue and larynx," according to The New York Times.
The study took place in 50 sessions that happened in the span of 81 weeks. During these sessions, the implant was connected to a computer. Pancho was then asked to try and say common words from a list.
When he does so, the electrodes in the neural implant transmit signals to the connected computer. The computer then displays the words he was trying to say on a screen.
His first complete sentence, according to The New York Times report, was "My family is outside."
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Neural Implant Study: How It Impacts The Future
The study done by the neuroscience researchers will make an impact on the future of neuroscience. But as a report by Futurism notes, the neural implant "remains imperfect."
The neural implant was only able to get half of the words Pancho was trying to say right in 9,000 attempts. An autocorrect-like feature eventually increased the accuracy. The implant also worked better when Pancho tried to recite words that were already on the screen.
The neural implant can definitely use some improvements to increase its accuracy. But the neuroscience researchers' efforts clearly "represent an advancement over existing methods for assisted communication."
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Isabella James
