In order to create a melody, there are several “proven” means: you can play it on any musical instrument manually, perform a cappella or generate it on a computer. But there is another way that scientists at the University of Washington offer. They created an encephalophone - a musical instrument, to play which requires only the power of thought.
Naturally, the encephalophone was created not for fun, but for the rehabilitation and treatment of patients with impaired motor skills. For example, after a stroke, limb amputations, spinal cord injuries and so on. The idea of creating such a method of rehabilitation came to the neurologist Thomas Duel, after he learned that many patients before the incident played musical instruments and were very upset that they could no longer continue to pursue their favorite hobby.
Encephalophone reads brain signals using special electrodes embedded in a helmet. These signals are converted into notes that are played using a synthesizer. On this, strictly speaking, the description of the principle of the musical instrument ends. The device itself is capable of receiving 2 types of signals: from the visual cortex of the brain (the instrument is controlled by the eyes), or from the region that is responsible for motor skills - in this case, the device works on the basis of thoughts about movement of a particular limb.
Thomas Dewel together with his colleague Felix Darvas conducted a series of experiments involving 15 healthy adults. All of them were able to play melodies without any problems. At the moment, scientists are planning to improve the encephalophone and are preparing for more extensive tests on patients with impaired motor activity.
The article is based on materials .
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