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Real-time Synthesis of Imagined Speech Processes from Minimally Invasive Recordings of Neural Activity

View ORCID ProfileMiguel Angrick, View ORCID ProfileMaarten Ottenhoff, View ORCID ProfileLorenz Diener, Darius Ivucic, Gabriel Ivucic, Sofoklis Goulis, Jeremy Saal, Albert J. Colon, View ORCID ProfileLouis Wagner, View ORCID ProfileDean J. Krusienski, View ORCID ProfilePieter L. Kubben, View ORCID ProfileTanja Schultz, View ORCID ProfileChristian Herff
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.11.421149
Miguel Angrick
1Cognitive Systems Lab, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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  • For correspondence: c.herff@maastrichtuniversity.nl miguel.angrick@uni-bremen.de
Maarten Ottenhoff
2Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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Lorenz Diener
1Cognitive Systems Lab, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Darius Ivucic
1Cognitive Systems Lab, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Gabriel Ivucic
1Cognitive Systems Lab, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Sofoklis Goulis
2Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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Jeremy Saal
2Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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Albert J. Colon
3Epilepsy Center Kempenhaeghe, Kempenhaeghe, Netherlands
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Louis Wagner
3Epilepsy Center Kempenhaeghe, Kempenhaeghe, Netherlands
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Dean J. Krusienski
4ASPEN Lab, Biomedical Engineering Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
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Pieter L. Kubben
2Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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  • ORCID record for Pieter L. Kubben
Tanja Schultz
1Cognitive Systems Lab, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Christian Herff
2Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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  • ORCID record for Christian Herff
  • For correspondence: c.herff@maastrichtuniversity.nl miguel.angrick@uni-bremen.de
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ABSTRACT

Speech neuroprosthetics aim to provide a natural communication channel to individuals who are unable to speak due to physical or neurological impairments. Real-time synthesis of acoustic speech directly from measured neural activity could enable natural conversations and significantly improve quality of life, particularly for individuals who have severely limited means of communication. Recent advances in decoding approaches have led to high quality reconstructions of acoustic speech from invasively measured neural activity. However, most prior research utilizes data collected during open-loop experiments of articulated speech, which neglects the critical human-in-the-loop aspect of a practical speech neuroprosthetic.

Here we present an approach that synthesizes audible speech in real-time for both imagined and whispered speech conditions. Using a participant implanted with stereotactic depth electrodes, we were able to reliably generate audible speech in real-time. The decoding models rely predominately on frontal activity suggesting that speech processes have similar representations when vocalized, whispered, or imagined. Our real-time synthesis approach represents an essential step towards investigating how patients will learn to operate a closed-loop speech neuroprosthesis, as well as the development of techniques that incorporate co-adaptation of the user and system for optimized performance.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted December 11, 2020.
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Real-time Synthesis of Imagined Speech Processes from Minimally Invasive Recordings of Neural Activity
Miguel Angrick, Maarten Ottenhoff, Lorenz Diener, Darius Ivucic, Gabriel Ivucic, Sofoklis Goulis, Jeremy Saal, Albert J. Colon, Louis Wagner, Dean J. Krusienski, Pieter L. Kubben, Tanja Schultz, Christian Herff
bioRxiv 2020.12.11.421149; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.11.421149
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Real-time Synthesis of Imagined Speech Processes from Minimally Invasive Recordings of Neural Activity
Miguel Angrick, Maarten Ottenhoff, Lorenz Diener, Darius Ivucic, Gabriel Ivucic, Sofoklis Goulis, Jeremy Saal, Albert J. Colon, Louis Wagner, Dean J. Krusienski, Pieter L. Kubben, Tanja Schultz, Christian Herff
bioRxiv 2020.12.11.421149; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.11.421149

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