Clairvoyance and wizardry have always been dismissed as total nonsense, along with crystal balls, mind reading and the like. However, it turns out that thanks to neuroscience mind-reading might actually turn into a respectable field of study.

Check out: First brain map of speech units could aid mind-reading

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Glossary

• snippet – a small piece or brief extract
• gamut – the complete range or scope of something
• ferret
• invasive – (of medical procedures) involving the introduction of instruments or other objects into the body or body cavities

Think about it

Answer the questions below.

• What has the map revealed about the brain and how it processes phonemes?
• How did Mesgarani’s team build the map?
• What was the procedure of the research?
• Why does Sophie Scott have reservations about Mesgarani’s research?
• What do Mesgarani and Scott agree on?

Practice makes perfect

Fill in the blank spaces with a/an/the or leave them blank. Check your answer with the original article.

To build the map, Mesgarani’s team turned to ________ group of volunteers who already had ________ electrodes implanted in their brains as part of ________ unrelated treatment for epilepsy. ________ invasive electrodes sit directly on ________ surface of ________ brain, providing ________ unique and detailed view of neural activity.

Fill in the blank spaces with the missing words. Use ONE word per blank space.

Mesgarani thinks that the phoneme map may make it easier ________ figure out what someone is hearing from nothing but brain signals. He has tried ________ do this before by analysing neural responses ________ sound in ferrets and in people. The map should make relating the brain activity ________ specific sounds much easier.

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