Get Your Tin Foil Hats Ready! "I Can Read Your Mind" Becoming Reality - IMRAN™
Talk about mind-reading. Scientists have made an exciting discovery by mapping how our brains understand the meanings of words. This new map shows that our brains use similar categories to classify words, which helps us make sense of language.
The study, focused on English words, is a step towards understanding how our brains store language. By mapping brain cells’ responses to words, we can start building a “thesaurus of meaning.”
Published in Nature, the research highlights how the auditory cortex processes word sounds, while the prefrontal cortex deciphers their meanings. Previous studies used brain imaging to map word meanings, but a team of researchers recorded real-time neuron activity in epilepsy patients with implanted electrodes.
Participants listened to sentences, and the scientists tracked which neurons fired. They found that specific neurons responded to words in similar categories, like actions or people. Words with related meanings, such as “mouse” and “rat,” triggered similar neuronal patterns.
Interestingly, the prefrontal cortex neurons distinguished words by meaning, not sound. For example, “son” activated family-related neurons, but “Sun” did not, despite sounding the same. As someone who speaks English, Urdu, Punjabi, and is learning French, it would be fascinating to literally "see" how multi-lingual people's neurons operate.
These researchers could partially determine what participants heard by observing neuron activity, identifying general themes like animals, actions, and food. This detailed understanding of single-neuron activity is crucial for developing brain-computer interfaces to restore speech.
Of course, the great risk to our freedoms would come from Big Brother literally being able to read our minds and know our thoughts. Add in the great power of Artificial Intelligence overlaid on these bio-medical, medical-imaging, and bio-engineering breakthroughs and.... I know what you're thinking.
Just Kidding... Or, am I ? :-)
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02146-6" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02146-6</a>
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