"Unveiling the Neural Basis of Human Speech Production"

Researchers used ultrahigh-density microelectrode arrays to obtain single-neuronal recordings from the prefrontal cortex of participants during natural speech production. They found that the firing activities of many neurons were explained by the constituent phonemes of the word before utterance, and some neurons were selectively tuned to the planned production of specific phonemes. These neurons reliably predicted the phonetic composition of upcoming words before utterance and were largely distinct from those involved in perception. Additionally, subsets of neurons encoded information about the arrangement and segmentation of phonemes into distinct syllables, providing insights into the basic cellular elements of speech production in humans.