Sergey Stavisky, Ph.D.

Research

We are studying how the brain encodes speech and language, with the goal of designing prosthetic devices to facilitate communication. Speaking involves cooperation between brain regions that translate thoughts into words and the motor cortex, which uses that information to command the muscles that produce voice. Previously, our lab applied what we had learned about how the motor cortex directs speech to engineer a brain-computer interface that allowed an individual with a debilitating muscular disorder to talk—and even sing—through a computer. But this device would be ineffective in someone with damage to the motor cortex or its “upstream” brain areas that prepare speech. Now, working with individuals who have electrodes implanted in the speech and language areas of the brain, my lab will monitor the activity of neural circuits as participants engage in conversation (including through a neuroprosthesis). We will identify the patterns in the brain that encode language upstream of vocalization—including those that represent meaning, rather than sounds. With the help of AI, my group will then build a prototype system that transforms an individual’s “intended communication” into phrases and sentences. This work could produce new devices for restoring fast and intuitive communication to people with neurological damage.