This would be one sad neuro blog if I didn’t mention researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, “using fMRI and computational models, were able to decipher and reconstruct movies from our minds” by associating brain activity of subjects with the video being viewed, piecing it together and replaying it.

Watch that video. Amazing. And blurry. Here’s what it means:

While watching the first set of trailers, the fMRI measured blood flow through the visual cortex and this information was directed to a computer, which portrayed the brain as tiny three-dimensional cubes called “voxels,” or volumetric pixels. For each voxel, there was a model that detailed how motion and shapes in the movie are translated into brain activity. The computer program learned to relate visual patterns in the trailers with corresponding brain activity.  Via

“…the technology can only reconstruct movie clips people have already viewed. However, the breakthrough paves the way for reproducing the movies inside our heads that no one else sees, such as dreams and memories, according to researchers.” Via

A highly technical and creative experiment showing an interpretation of what our brain “sees” so that one day we may be able to see what is going on in the minds of non verbal patients, e.g. coma, stroke or severe autism.

Source, Journal Article