One outcome of ALS is loss of the ability to speak. A paralyzed person could learn to speak again using only the power of thought, by getting a computer to make the sounds. Because brains and computers both use electrical signals, the idea is possible in principle. But a recent breakthrough was proof of concept.

A 37-year-old man who was an epilepsy patient at a hospital in Tel Aviv was having electrodes planted deep into his brain in order to identify damaged parts that could be removed. He agreed to participate in an experiment with Dr. Ariel Tankus and Dr. Ido Strauss to see if these electrodes could be linked up to a computer. Properly programmed, the computer might then be gotten to make speech sounds directed only by the young man’s thoughts.

As reported at Neuroscience News,

In the first stage of the experiment, with the depth electrodes already implanted in the patient’s brain, the Tel Aviv University researchers asked him to say two syllables out loud: /a/ and /e/.

They recorded the brain activity as he articulated these sounds. Using deep learning and machine learning, the researchers trained artificial intelligence models to identify the specific brain cells whose electrical activity indicated the desire to say /a/ or /e/.

Once the computer learned to recognize the pattern of electrical activity associated with these two syllables in the patient’s brain, he was asked to only imagine that he was saying /a/ and /e/. The computer then translated the electrical signals and played the pre-recorded sounds of /a/ or /e/ accordingly.

Tel Aviv University, “Breaking Silence: Giving the Silent a Voice Through Thoughts,” Neuroscience News, July 16, 2024

Dr. Tankus added, “Of course, our ambition is to get to complete speech, but even two different syllables can enable a fully paralyzed person to signal ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ For example, in the future it will be possible to train a computer for an ALS patient in the early stages of the disease, while they can still speak.”

Thus, as the ability to use the mouth parts for speaking deteriorates due to paralysis by ALS the computer would take on more and more of the mouth’s role.

Here’s the basic idea:

So far, the Tel Aviv team has got only the sounds /a/ and /e/ but they must start somewhere. As Dr. Tankus told Debrief,

“In this experiment, for the first time in history, we were able to connect the parts of speech to the activity of individual cells from the regions of the brain from which we recorded. This allowed us to distinguish between the electrical signals that represent the sounds /a/ and /e/. At the moment, our research involves two building blocks of speech, two syllables.”

Chrissy Newton, “‘Speech” Using Only the Power of Thought May Soon Be a Reality, New Research Reveals,” The DeBrief, August 3, 2024

So ideally, the person who has lost the ability to speak will be able to speak again, using thoughts alone to direct a computer voice.

From the paper: “A 37-year-old male neurosurgical epilepsy patient with intact speech, implanted with depth electrodes for clinical reasons only, silently controlled the neuroprosthesis almost immediately and in a natural way to voluntarily produce 2 vowel sounds.”

Using thoughts to control electronics (without speech)

In a similar development, a brain-computer interface (BCI) gives a paralyzed person control through thoughts but speech is not involved. Neuralink rival Synchron has begun connecting its brain-computer interface with consumer technologies to enable paralyzed people to use them. A Wired story today focused on Mark, a 64-year-old ALS patient who can still speak but cannot use his arms. He uses a brain implant (a brain–computer interface or BCI) to control virtual assistant Alexa with his mind:

Synchron’s BCI resembles a mesh stent and is dotted with electrodes that collect neural signals. Instead of being directly implanted in the brain, it’s inserted into the jugular vein at the base of the neck in a minimally invasive procedure. A surgeon pushes the device through the vein until it sits against the motor cortex—a region of the brain that controls voluntary movement. Once implanted, it’s designed to detect and wirelessly transmit movement intentions out of the brain so that paralyzed people can control personal devices hands-free.

Emily Mullin, “This Brain Implant Lets People Control Amazon Alexa With Their Minds,” Wired, September 16, 2024

Here’s how it works with actual subjects:

Meanwhile, Noland Arbaugh, the first recipient of a BCI via Neuralink is still going strong. An avid chess player before he was paralyzed from the neck down in 2016, the 30-year-old credits chess with keeping him going mentally. He plays again, controlling a cursor with his mind.

His first chess game after the BCI implant against Neuralink’s Bliss Chapman was covered live on Neuralink’s X/Twitter account:

Science fiction might focus on brain–computer interfaces as a means of giving us superhuman powers. But as BCIs become reality, their main use will likely be to compensate for the loss of ordinary human abilities.

You may also wish to read: Will Neuralink’s brain implant help paralysis victims? Addressing disabilities like paralysis, limb loss, and blindness seems a more realistic goal than the hyped (and feared) human–machine hybrids. When Elon Musk announced his first implant recipient late last month, a broad public first learned that many people with disabilities use implants now.