Like science fiction: Scientists reconstruct video from reading electrical brain signals

Researchers from University College London succeeded in reading electrical signals from mouse brain cells while they watched videos, and translating the activity back into a video. The computer learned the 'language of the brain' and created a new video based solely on brain activity data, without any hints about the original content. The researchers emphasize this is a focused decoding of the visual area, not mind reading.

Researchers from University College London conducted a groundbreaking experiment in which they managed to reconstruct a video based on reading electrical signals from mouse brain cells. In the first stage, the mice watched various videos and the researchers documented which brain cells 'lit up' in response. A computer learned the activity patterns, and in the second stage, a completely new 10-second video was shown to the mouse. The computer, which received only the brain activity data without any hint of the content, assembled an image from individual pixels and created a video very similar to the original. The researchers emphasize that this is not a mind-reading device, but a focused decoding of the visual area of the brain. The experiment goes down to the level of a single cell, unlike previous attempts on humans using MRI scanners. In the future, the technology may allow understanding how different animals perceive the same environment, and how the human brain translates light and sights into an image.