Systems and Methods for Decoding Speech from Neural Activity

Abstract

Systems and methods for decoding speech from neural activity in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a brain-computer interface for decoding intended speech including a microelectrode array, a processor communicatively coupled to the microelectrode array, and a memory, the memory containing a speech decoding application that configures the processor to: receive neural signals from a user's brain recorded by a microelectrode array, where the neural signals comprise action potential spikes, bin the received action potential spikes by time, provide the bins to a recurrent neural network (RNN) to receive a likely phoneme at the time of each provided bin, generate an estimated intended speech using a phoneme decoder provided with the likely phonemes, where the phoneme decoder comprises a language model formatted as a weighted finite-state transducer, and vocalize the estimated intended speech using a loudspeaker communicatively coupled to the brain-computer interface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.