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After 18 years without speech, a woman paralyzed by a stroke has regained her voice through an experimental brain-computer interface developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC San Francisco. The research, published in Nature Neuroscience on Monday, utilized artificial intelligence to translate the thoughts of the participant, known as “Anne,” into natural speech in real time. “Unlike vision, motion, or hunger—shared with other species—speech sets us apart. That alone makes it a fascinating research topic,” Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, Gopala Anumanchipalli, told Decrypt. “It’s still one of the big unknowns: how intelligent behavior emerges from neurons and cortical tissue.” The study used a brain-computer interface to create a direct pathway between Anne’s brain’s electrical signals and a computer. As Anumanchipalli explained, the interface reads neural signals using a grid of electrodes placed on the brain’s speech center. “But it became clear there are conditions—like ALS, brainstem stroke, or injury—where the body becomes inaccessible, and the person is ‘locked in.’ They’re cognitively intact but unable to move or speak,” Anumanchipalli said. Anumanchipalli noted that while significant progress has been made in creating artificial limbs, restoring speech remains more complex. “Both are motor systems, but limb movement is a simpler problem than mouth movement, which involves more joints and muscles,” he said. “Arm restoration is also something we pursue.” Machine learning and artificial intelligence Emphasizing the importance of rapid responses in conversation, Anumanchipalli said that with machine learning and custom AI algorithms, the brain-computer interface converted Anne’s brain signals into speech within a second using a synthetic voice generator. “We recorded Anne’s attempts and used audio from before her injury—her wedding video. It was a 20-year-old clip, but we digitally recreated a synthetic voice,” Anumanchipalli said. “Then, we matched her brain’s…

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Filed under: News - @ April 3, 2025 5:24 pm