Shared latent representations of speech production for cross-patient speech decoding
Speech brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can restore communication in individuals with neuromotor disorders who are unable to speak. However, current speech BCIs limit patient usability and successful deployment by requiring large volumes of patient-specific data collected over long periods of time. A promising solution to facilitate usability and accelerate their successful deployment is to combine data from multiple patients. This has proven difficult, however, due to differences in user neuroanatomy, varied placement of electrode arrays, and sparse sampling of targeted anatomy. Here, by aligning patient-specific neural data to a shared latent space, we show that speech BCIs can be trained on data combined across patients. Using canonical correlation analysis and high-density micro-electrocorticography (ECoG), we uncovered shared neural latent dynamics with preserved micro-scale speech information. This approach enabled cross-patient decoding models to achieve improved performance relative to patient-specific models facilitated by the high resolution and broad coverage of ECoG. Our findings support future speech BCIs that are more accurate and rapidly deployable, ultimately improving the quality of life for people with impaired communication from neuromotor disorders.