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‘Mind-captioning’ AI decodes brain activity to turn thoughts into text

A non-invasive imaging technique can translate scenes in your head into sentences. It could help to reveal how the brain interprets the world.
By
  1. Max Kozlov
Computer model of a whole human brain created using software to make sense of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive way to explore brain activity. Credit: National Institute of Mental Health/National Institutes of Health/SPL

Reading a person’s mind using a recording of their brain activity sounds futuristic, but it’s now one step closer to reality. A technique called ‘mind captioning’ generates descriptive sentences of what a person is seeing or picturing in their mind using a read-out of their brain activity, with impressive accuracy.

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Nature 647, 297 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03624-1

References

  1. Horikawa, T. Sci. Adv. 11, eadw1464 (2025).

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  2. Tang, J., LeBel, A., Jain, S. & Huth, A. G. Nature Neurosci. 26, 858–866 (2023).

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