Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and computer models, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (United States) havedecoded and reconstructed the visual experience of our brain while we watch movie “trailers”from Hollywood. The study has been published in the journalCurrent Biology.
Until now, the only technology available was only capable of reconstructing moving images that people had already seen. However, this breakthrough opens the way for the playing of “movies” inside our heads that no one else sees, such as dreams and memories. “This is a big step towards rebuilding internal images,” says Professor Jack Gallant, a neuroscientist at the University of Berkeley and a co-author of the work.
In the long term, practical applications of this technology could include a better understanding of theor what happens in the minds of people who cannot communicate verballysuch as stroke victims, coma patients, and people with neurodegenerative diseases. It can also lay the foundation for the development ofbrain-machine interfaceso that people with cerebral palsy, for example, can guide computers with their minds. However, the researchers note that the technology is decades away from allowing users to read other people’s thoughts and intentions.
“Our natural visual experience is like watching a movie,” explains Shinji Nishimoto, study co-author and researcher in Gallant’s lab, “for this technology to have wide application, we have to understand how the brain processes dynamic visual experiences.”
