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In a partially industry-funded study, researchers from Canada examined whether functional magnetic resonance imaging could be used to decode communication via patterns of brain activation to discrete stimuli.
The 15 healthy subjects first listened to the words “one” through “nine,” “yes,” and “no.” They were then asked to count to themselves the number of times the word “yes” or “no” was said in word sequences that included numbers as attention distracters; this allowed investigators to localize each individual's regions of activation while paying selective attention. Then, each subject was asked to communicate the answer to two questions (“Are you over 21?” and “Do you have brothers or sisters?”). They did so by listening to sequences that …