The machine 'penetrates' the human brain

By using brain scan data and a set of computer algorithms, Dutch scientists can read the letters that a person is looking at.

Pictures of brain activity after processing. (Photo: Radboud University Nijmegen)

In the future, human beings are able to reproduce the images they have seen, remembered and even dreamed. To do that, researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, built a system that included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, image recognition software, and computer algorithms.

In the course of the experiment, the brain data that is active at the occipital area is recorded, which is an area behind the brain that responds to visual stimulation. Participants watched a series of flashing letters on screen B, R, A, I, N, S. MRI scanner information recorded as mottled images, a computer algorithm to handle them, Reproduced in specific letters, however it is still unclear, somewhat blurred; The image is further processed to look clearer, Io9 said.

Researchers hope to apply their models to study how memory works, dreams or fantasies. The team is planning to use a more powerful MRI scanner with the ability to scan up to 15,000 3-D pixels at once, providing better resolution for computer programs that "read" the minds of the objects they will try to reproduce a face that the subject looks at.