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Brain implants that enable speech pass performance milestones

Two brain–computer interfaces have been developed that bring unprecedented capabilities for translating brain signals into sentences — at speeds close to that of normal speech, and with vocabularies exceeding 1,000 words.
  1. Nick F. Ramsey

    1. Nick F. Ramsey is in the UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, the Netherlands.

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  2. Nathan E. Crone

    1. Nathan E. Crone is in the Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.

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There is an urgent need to help people with neurological conditions that deprive them of the universal human need to communicate. Two articles published in Nature demonstrate that individuals who are unable to speak as a result of severe paralysis could potentially use implantable brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) to communicate at rates much greater than those typically achievable with alternative communication options. Willett et al.1 report a device that records brain activity using electrodes that penetrate the brain’s cortex, whereas Metzger and colleagues’ device2 uses electrodes placed on the cortical surface. These studies signal a turning point in the development of BCI technology that aims to restore communication for people with severe paralysis.

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Nature 620, 954-955 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02546-0

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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