Brain Injury Can Cause Language Processing Problems - Researchers are creating a decoder to read your mind

May 25, 2023, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Brain injury is a serious and potentially life-altering condition that can have a significant impact on a person's physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. In Ontario, brain injury is a common occurrence, affecting thousands of individuals each year. Whether caused by a traumatic incident or a medical condition, brain injury can have far-reaching consequences for both the individual and their loved ones.

The danger of brain injury lies in its potential to disrupt the normal functioning of the brain, which controls virtually every aspect of our daily lives. Depending on the severity and location of the injury, a person may experience a wide range of symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, confusion, memory loss, mood changes, and even paralysis or loss of consciousness. These symptoms can have a significant impact on a person's ability to perform everyday tasks, maintain relationships, and pursue their goals and aspirations.

Moreover, brain injury can be especially dangerous because its effects are not always immediately apparent. In some cases, symptoms may not emerge until days or even weeks after the initial injury, which can make it difficult to diagnose and treat effectively. This is why it is crucial to seek medical attention right away if you or someone you know has experienced a blow to the head or other traumatic incident that could result in brain injury.

In Ontario, the incidence of brain injury is particularly high due to a number of factors, including the prevalence of motor vehicle accidents, sports-related injuries, and falls among older adults. As such, it is essential for individuals, families, and communities to be aware of the risks of brain injury and take steps to prevent or minimize its impact.

If you've suffered a brain injury due to an accident contact one of our personal injury lawyers today. We will stand by you and help you get the settlement you deserve 519.742.7774

You can listen to this podcast about the research here OR you can read the transcript from npr below.

A decoder that uses brain scans to know what you mean — mostly

May 1, 202311:00 AM ET Heard on All Things Considered

Scientists have found a way to decode a stream of words in the brain using MRI scans and artificial intelligence.

The system reconstructs the gist of what a person hears or imagines, rather than trying to replicate each word, a team reports in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"It's getting at the ideas behind the words, the semantics, the meaning," says Alexander Huth, an author of the study and an assistant professor of neuroscience and computer science at The University of Texas at Austin.

This technology can't read minds, though. It only works when a participant is actively cooperating with scientists.

Still, systems that decode language could someday help people who are unable to speak because of a brain injury or disease. They also are helping scientists understand how the brain processes words and thoughts.

Previous efforts to decode language have relied on sensors placed directly on the surface of the brain. The sensors detect signals in areas involved in articulating words.

But the Texas team's approach is an attempt to "decode more freeform thought," says Marcel Just, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University who was not involved in the new research.

That could mean it has applications beyond communication, he says.

"One of the biggest scientific medical challenges is understanding mental illness, which is a brain dysfunction ultimately," Just says. "I think that this general kind of approach is going to solve that puzzle someday."

Podcasts in the MRI
The new study came about as part of an effort to understand how the brain processes language.

Researchers had three people spend up to 16 hours each in a functional MRI scanner, which detects signs of activity across the brain.

Participants wore headphones that streamed audio from podcasts. "For the most part, they just lay there and listened to stories from The Moth Radio Hour, Huth says.

Those streams of words produced activity all over the brain, not just in areas associated with speech and language.

Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry
"It turns out that a huge amount of the brain is doing something," Huth says. "So areas that we use for navigation, areas that we use for doing mental math, areas that we use for processing what things feel like to touch."

After participants listened to hours of stories in the scanner, the MRI data was sent to a computer. It learned to match specific patterns of brain activity with certain streams of words.

Next, the team had participants listen to new stories in the scanner. Then the computer attempted to reconstruct these stories from each participant's brain activity.

The system got a lot of help constructing intelligible sentences from artificial intelligence: an early version of the famous natural language processing program ChatGPT.

What emerged from the system was a paraphrased version of what a participant heard.

So if a participant heard the phrase, "I didn't even have my driver's license yet," the decoded version might be, "she hadn't even learned to drive yet," Huth says. In many cases, he says, the decoded version contained errors.

In another experiment, the system was able to paraphrase words a person just imagined saying.

In a third experiment, participants watched videos that told a story without using words.

"We didn't tell the subjects to try to describe what's happening," Huth says. "And yet what we got was this kind of language description of what's going on in the video."

A noninvasive window on language
The MRI approach is currently slower and less accurate than an experimental communication system being developed for paralyzed people by a team led by Dr. Edward Chang at the University of California, San Francisco.

"People get a sheet of electrical sensors implanted directly on the surface of the brain," says David Moses, a researcher in Chang's lab. "That records brain activity really close to the source."

The sensors detect activity in brain areas that usually give speech commands. At least one person has been able to use the system to accurately generate 15 words a minute using only his thoughts.

But with an MRI-based system, "No one has to get surgery," Moses says.

Neither approach can be used to read a person's thoughts without their cooperation. In the Texas study, people were able to defeat the system just by telling themselves a different story.

But future versions could raise ethical questions .

"This is very exciting, but it's also a little scary, Huth says. "What if you can read out the word that somebody is just thinking in their head? That's potentially a harmful thing."

Moses agrees.

"This is all about the user having a new way of communicating, a new tool that is totally in their control," he says. "That is the goal and we have to make sure that stays the goal."

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.