Scientists reconstruct brain's 'movies'

U.S. researchers say with brain scans and computation models they can decode and reconstruct people's dynamic visual experiences, their internal brain "movies." Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, say functional magnetic resonance imaging combined with powerful computational power is unlocking the visuals within people's heads, a university release reported Thursday. While the technology now can only reconstruct movie clips people have already viewed -- in the case of the Berkeley study, Hollywood movie trailers -- and the reconstructed moving images are round and blurry, researchers say the breakthrough could one day lead to reproducing the moving images inside our heads that no one else sees, such as dreams and memories. "This is a major leap toward reconstructing internal imagery," study co-author Jack Gallant, a UC Berkeley neuroscientist, said. "We are opening a window into the movies in our minds." Researchers said eventually the technology could offer a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of people who cannot communicate verbally, such as stroke victims, coma patients and people with neurodegenerative diseases.