An Accurate and Rapidly Calibrating Speech Neuroprosthesis

Brain-computer interfaces can enable communication for people with paralysis by transforming cortical activity associated with attempted speech into text on a computer screen. Communication with brain-computer interfaces has been restricted by extensive training requirements and limited accuracy.

A 45-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with tetraparesis and severe dysarthria underwent surgical implantation of four microelectrode arrays into his left ventral precentral gyrus 5 years after the onset of the illness; these arrays recorded neural activity from 256 intracortical electrodes. We report the results of decoding his cortical neural activity as he attempted to speak in both prompted and unstructured conversational contexts. Decoded words were displayed on a screen and then vocalized with the use of text-to-speech software designed to sound like his pre-ALS voice.