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Remixed brain waves produce ‘soundtrack of the brain’

Researchers from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China have published a new study showing how two different readings of brain wave activity can be combined and translated, producing a musical 'soundtrack' of a person's brain.

The researchers, led by Jing Lu, simultaneously recorded Electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) readings, setting the electrical signals read by the EEG as the pitch and duration of a tone, and the blood-flow measured by the fMRI as the intensity of the notes. The music produced (you can listen to the mp3 files linked from the bottom of the research article page here) sounds a bit like someone just playing around with a piano, but the readings taken are fairly broad. However, as EEG and fMRI readings become more refined, this technique could produce far more information and far richer music.

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According to the research team, this brain music "provides the platform for scientist and artist to work together to understand ourselves, and it is also a new interactive link between the human brain and music. We hope the on-going progresses of the brain signals based music will properly unravel part of the truth in the brain, and then to be used for clinical diagnosis and bio-feedback therapy in the future."

Remixed brain waves produce 'soundtrack of the brain'