Forty-one neurons can seem like a drop of water in the ocean of the billions of nerve cells that make up our brain. But they are enough to restore Eric Ramsey's ability to speak.
Eight years ago, this 27-year-old was in a car accident that left him paralyzed and unable to communicate except for the movement of his eyes. In 2004, willing to give him a hand, a team of scientists from Boston University implanted a wireless electrode in his brain that recorded the signals sent by 41 neurons in the region involved in language, specifically those responsible for the movement of the tongue. and lips to make sounds. By analyzing the signals generated by these cells when Ramsey imagines he speaks, Jonathan Brumberg and his colleagues have developed software that, in the not too distant future, could "read aloud" his thoughts .
For now, the researchers are concentrating on creating a "dictionary" of the signals that correspond to each sound. The first is the vowels , according to Brumberg and his team in early November at the annual meeting of the United States Neuroscience Society. Then it will be the turn of the consonants. "The conversation is our goal, but we are still far from achieving it," they admit.
New Scientist (www.newscientist.com)
