Music in brain waves: Pink Floyd song can be heard in the brain

Scientists have previously succeeded in ‘scanning’ the words someone is thinking of based on brain activity, see for example the video at the bottom of this article. But it has never been possible to reconstruct music based on brain waves before.

Electrodes during surgery

Researchers from the University of California, who published the results of the study yesterday, analyzed brain waves from 29 patients. These were volunteers who had undergone epilepsy surgery.

During the operation, electrodes were attached directly to the surface of their brains while the same three minutes of the famous song “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd was played in the operating room.

The text is audible

Using artificial intelligence, the scientists then reconstructed the part from which the text “All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall” can be heard. The melody and rhythm of the song are also clearly heard:

According to lead researcher Robert Knight, the fact that it sounds like singing underwater is because an electrode has been placed on the brain every 5 mm. He explained to the British newspaper The Guardian: “If we placed the electrodes close to each other, the quality would be better.”

There is music there

According to Knight, the research is particularly remarkable because music offers much more possibilities than text for advanced tools in the future. He believes it may be possible to begin developing equipment that can teach people with paralysis to speak better based on what can be read in the brain.

“Music is emotional, has rhythm and tone. It contains a much broader range of information than any language, and so could add a dimension to future brain transplants,” he explains.