 Scientists have reconstructed a Pink Floyd classic from the recorded brain waves of patients who were undergoing epilepsy surgery while listening to the song. Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, in the US, used artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to decode the brain signals, recreating the 1979 hit Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1. The team said this is the first time scientists have reconstructed a song from the recordings of brain activity. They said the phrase 'All in all, it was just a brick in the wall' is recognisable in the reconstructed song and the rhythms remain intact. And although the words in the song are muddy, they are decipherable, the scientists said. According to the team, the findings, reported in the journal PLOS Biology, show that brain signals can be translated to capture the musical elements of speech (prosody) – such as rhythm, stress, accent and intonation – which convey meaning that words alone cannot express. While technology that can decode words for people who are unable to speak exists, the researchers said the sentences produced have a robotic quality – much like the way the late Stephen Hawking sounded when he used a speech-generating device. The scientists believe their work could pave the way for new prosthetic devices that can help improve the perception of the rhythm and melody of speech. Study author Robert Knight, a neurologist and UC Berkeley professor of psychology at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, said: 'It's a wonderful result. 'One of the things for me about music is it has prosody and emotional content. 'As this whole field of brain machine interfaces progresses, this gives you a way to add musicality to future brain implants for people who need it, someone who's got ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also known as motor neurone disease) or some other disabling){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Scientists have reconstructed a Pink Floyd classic from the recorded brain waves of patients who were undergoing epilepsy surgery while listening to the song.
Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, in the US, used artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to decode the brain signals, recreating the 1979 hit Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1.
The team said this is the first time scientists have reconstructed a song from the recordings of brain activity.
They said the phrase ‘All in all, it was just a brick in the wall’ is recognisable in the reconstructed song and the rhythms remain intact.