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Could we soon be reading people's MINDS? Software uses brain scans to identify exactly what people are looking at
Software uses shape recognition with an algorithm to interpret brain scans It can identify the shape and outline of an item a person is looking at The process could also work when people think about a certain shape
By Victoria Woollaston PUBLISHED: 11:02 GMT, 22 August 2013 | UPDATED: 12:37 GMT, 22 August 2013

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Researchers are a step closer to being able to read people's thoughts after creating a computer program that can identify what someone is looking at using brain scans. A team from Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands used image and shape recognition software and a specially designed algorithm to assess changes in a person's brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. During tests the scientists showed participants a series of letters and were able to identify exactly when, during the scan, they were looking at which letters.

Dutch researchers have created software that when used with brain scans can identify the shape and outline of what a person is looking at. During tests, scientists showed participants letters, pictured, and ran the changes that occurred in the brain after each letter was shown through a bespoke algorithm to identify them

Dutch researchers used fMRI scans to zoom in on changes, pictured, in specific regions of the brain called voxels, in the occipital lobe. These voxels are around 2x2x2 millimetres big and the occipital lobe is the part of the brain which reacts to visual stimuli and processes what the eyes can see through the retina

WHAT IS THE OCCIPITAL LOBE?

The occipital lobes are one of the four main lobes or regions of the cerebral cortex in the brain.

They sit at the back of the brain and are responsible for processing images. Visual sensory information is seen by the retina and passed to the lobes, which then process the images so the person can decode what they are looking at. Changes in brain lobes and small 2x2x2mm voxels inside the lobes can be measured using fMRI scans. fMRI is based on the same technology as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the body. However, rather than creating images of organs and tissues, fMRI can track blood flow in the brain to detect areas of activity. These changes in blood flow can help doctors understand more about how the brain works. Functional MRI scans are traditionally used to measure changes in overall brain activity, yet the Dutch researchers used the technology to zoom in on smaller, more specific regions, known as voxels, in the occipital lobe. These voxels are around 2x2x2 millimetres big and the occipital lobe is the part of the brain which reacts to visual stimuli and processes what the eyes see through the retina. Each participant was wired up to an fMRI scanner and shown the letters B, R, A, I, N and S on a screen in front of them. The scientists were able to create a database of the specific changes that occurred in each person's brain after each letter was shown, which highlighted how the brain visualised the different shapes. These changes were run through a bespoke algorithm that had been designed to work in a similar way to how brains build images of objects from the sensory information it receives.

The scientists were able to create a database, pictured, of the specific changes that occurred in a person's brain after each letter was shown. These changes were run through a bespoke algorithm designed to work in a similar way to how brains build images of objects from the sensory information it receives

This image shows the changes that occurred in the brain when participants were shown the letter B, left column, and all six letters, right column

This algorithm was able to convert the voxels, and their relevant changes, into image pixels, making it possible to reconstruct a picture of what the person was looking at, at the time of the scan. The model has been designed to compare letters, yet could be expanded for other imagery. Marcel Van Gerven, co-author of the study 'Linear reconstruction of perceived images from human brain activity' said that the algorithm is also capable of becoming more accurate the more times it is used and more data it processes. This experiment used information obtained from a selection of 1,200 voxels, yet van Gerven claims the algorithm could also be used to reconstruct any image and his team is working on building more advanced machines that can build images from 15,000 voxels. This could include complex imagery such as a person's face. During an interview with Wired, van Gerven did warn that this isn't exactly the same as reading a person's thoughts and more work and understanding about how the brain processes internal images would need to be carried out before being able to decode thoughts. Yet he added that if its discovered the brain reacts to imagination in the same way it reacts to physical visual stimuli then mind-reading would be possible, potentially leading to so-called telepathic computer programs.

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Comments (80)
Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all A team from Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands .......................enough said - Red Tick Alert , Arnhem, Netherlands, 24/8/2013 19:00 Click to rate Report abuse aluminum foil hats will be the next trend (aka signs). - stevesjeep , newern, United States, 24/8/2013 16:37 Click to rate Report abuse There won't be much to read in the average DM reader/UKIP voter mind. - Guto Nythbran 44 , Roving, 24/8/2013 13:18 Click to rate Report abuse This was always something I worried about when I was a kid. Scary!!! - wobbles , West Yorkshire, 24/8/2013 12:25 Click to rate Report abuse This is not new , It has been around for 30+ years .Popular Mechanics has ran story's about this technology a few dozen times it has been in the news many times .Remember the Stealth Bomber and how we all thought it was new ?? it was obsolete when they showed it to us and this is no different .Just do a Search for it . No one Reads anymore and if they do its not about anything of value . Thats how we get into the spot were in with the Government . Sad so vary sad - oldlites4u , loganville, United States, 24/8/2013 00:02 Rating 5 Rating 2 Rating 4 Rating (0)

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They'll probably come up with a LOT of blanks! - DrMallard , West Palm Beach FL USA, 23/8/2013 23:31 Click to rate Report abuse Another step to Orwell's vision of the future. Eventually the government will use this to determine who is committing "Crime Think". - USArtguy , Midwest, 23/8/2013 23:11 Click to rate Report abuse I think a lot of this new brain science is quackery at worst, shoddy at best. Beware. Be skeptical. Don't take these studies and judgments at face value, or even as scientifically valid. - jordan , potomac, United States, 23/8/2013 22:49 Click to rate Report abuse If you get hooked up to one of these, make sure you imagine spelling out "Take this thing off and go away"! - GKJ , UK, 23/8/2013 19:36 Click to rate Report abuse Eventually they will bring down the noise and increase the resolution thereby showing thoughts in real-time in 4K. Wonder how long it will be before someone hooks it all up to a guy on DMT or something... - DarkStarAz , Phoenix, 23/8/2013 18:57 Click to rate Report abuse Share this comment The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Rating 5 Rating 7 Rating 1 Rating 9 Rating 4

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