Posted on 08/15/2023 1:01:31 PM PDT by Red Badger
We're seeing major advancements in tech that can decode brain signals, interpreting neural activity to reveal what's on someone's mind, what they want to say, or – in the case of a new study – which song they're listening to.
US researchers have been able to reconstruct a "recognizable version" of a Pink Floyd song based on the pulses of activity moving through a specific part of the brain's temporal lobe in volunteers as they listened to the hit Another Brick in the Wall Part 1.
While the tune in question did go through some initial processing into a spectrogram form to be more compatible with the brain's audio processing techniques, the reverse process is impressive in terms of its fidelity.
Brain decoding - The researchers could reconstruct a song from the brain's processing. (Ludovic Bellier/CC-BY 4.0)
"We reconstructed the classic Pink Floyd song Another Brick in the Wall from direct human cortical recordings, providing insights into the neural bases of music perception and into future brain decoding applications," says neuroscientist Ludovic Bellier from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bellier and colleagues wanted to look at how brain patterns might map to musical elements like pitch and harmony and ended up discovering that a part of the brain's auditory complex called the superior temporal gyrus (STG) is linked to rhythm. It seems that this area in particular is important in terms of perceiving and understanding music.
To gather the necessary brain activity data, the team recruited 29 people who already had brain electrodes implanted to help manage their epilepsy. Across all the participants, a total of 2,668 electrodes were monitored for neural patterns while they were listening to Pink Floyd.
All of this data was then analyzed via machine learning, through what's known as a regression-based decoding model. In simple terms, computer algorithms looked for correlations between the music being played and what was going on in the brain.
Through that learning process, the researchers could then reverse the system and identify Another Brick in the Wall through how the brain was responding to it. The reconstructed track is a little muddy and distorted, but it's not hard to tell what the song is.
This contributes to ongoing efforts to better decode brain patterns and improve brain-machine interfaces.
Imagine being able to restore music perception for those with brain damage, for example, or those who have lost the power of speech being able to think the words they want to say, and the pitch, tone, and lyrical flow of those words, too.
"For example, the musical perception findings could contribute to development of a general auditory decoder that includes the prosodic elements of speech based on relatively few, well-located electrodes," write the researchers in their published paper.
The research has been published in PLOS Biology.
That one, and Stairway to Heaven. Overplayed and wore them out.
LOL! Everytime it comes on the radio I can’t shut it off fast enough. That and the Doobie brothers “Listen to the music” with it’s endless “WHOAAA LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WHOAAA LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WHOAAA LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WHOAAA LISTEN TO THE MUSIC” A guy I use to work with actual smashed a radio because of that song “Listen to this!” BANG!
“a part of the brain’s auditory complex called the superior temporal gyrus (STG) is linked to rhythm. It seems that this area in particular is important in terms of perceiving and understanding music.”
Well, the other two elements of music (melody and harmony) can be expressed in terms of rhythm. So, mathematically, rhythm is the only fundamental, irreducible element of music.
Reminds me of an old episode of The Gong Show where every contestant sang their own rendition of “Feelings (Nothing More Than Feelings).” Nobody made it off the stage without being gonged first. By the end, everybody was getting gonged at the first word.
What if they had in for ya? They could plant an endless loop of The Cowsills in your head that you could never unhear.
Ha ha! I think I remember that! I use to watch that show all the time. Chuck Barris and every time he clapped the audience clapped with him and Gene Gene the dancing machine lol lol I loved that show! Oh yeah and the Unknown comic!
The Gong Show, the greatest show, ever.
“Imagine being able to restore music perception for those with brain damage, for example, or those who have lost the power of speech being able to think the words they want to say, and the pitch, tone, and lyrical flow of those words, too.”
I more easily imagine this technology being used for nefarious purposes.
“ I wonder what they could create from the brain of F-JB or Fetterman or Feinstein or Pelosi ......”
John Cage’s 4:33
I saw Ted Nugent last night. He played a new song called “F*ck Joe Biden”. The audience overwhelmingly loved it. Wonder what that looks like through the brain wave processor?
That sounds like “Another Brick In the Wall” as much as Rachel Levine looks like a woman, only far worse.
It’s eerie though. Give ‘em that!
Get just what I need, now my wife will really be able to read my mind....
I liked Meddle.... and then I moved on.
Heh!
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