A 'mind-reading' device that can decipher words from brainwaves without them being spoken has been developed by Japanese scientists, raising the prospect of 'telepathic' communication.

Researchers have found the electrical activity in the brain is the same when words are spoken and when they are left unsaid.

By looking for the distinct wave forms produced before speaking, the team was able to identify words such as 'goo', 'scissors' and 'par' when spoken in Japanese.

Researchers from Japan used technology that measures the electrical activity of the brain to decipher brainwaves that occur before someone speaks (stock picture). They found distinct brainwaves were formed before syllables were spoken

The scientists behind the technology said they can identify brain waves associated with syllables or letters of the Japanese alphabet, meaning it may be possible to decode entire words and sentences without the need for any of them being physically spoken.

To 'listen' to the unspoken words, the researchers used a method called electroencephalogram, or EEG.

This technology records electrical activity from the brain using an array of electrodes on the scalp to detect the brain waves.

RISE OF THE BRAIN CONTROLLED MACHINES Forget joysticks and exoskeletons, the future of warfare could see robot armies controlled using just a commander's mind. China has been training students at a military academy to use headsets that detect and interpret the brain activity of the wearer, allowing them to control the machines. At a demonstration in Zhengzhou, students used the device to send robots trundling in different directions. They were also able to turn the robot's heads and get them to pick up objects. The technology uses a brain computer interface known as a electroencephalograph, which uses electrodes in a cap to detect tiny changes in the electrical activity of the brain. By training a computer to recognise particular patterns that accompany commands, such as turn left or turn right, this can be then transmitted to control the robot. The technology is being developed at the military academy's laboratory for brain-machine coordination. Advertisement

The team focused on a part of the brain known as Broca's area, which is thought to be involved in language processing and speech.

Lead author Professor Yamazaki Toshimasa, an expert in brain computer interfaces at Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture, and his team asked 12 men, women and children to recite a series of words, measuring their brainwaves as they did so.

They found each syllable produced a distinct brain wave activity from the initial thought to the actual utterance. Activity could be seen up to two seconds before a word was spoken.

By compiling a database of different sounds, the researchers found it is possible to match these brainwave patterns to words, even if they are not spoken.

According to a paper presented at a conference organised by the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, the team's algorithms were able to correctly identify the Japanese words 'haru' and 'natsu', meaning summer and spring, 25 per cent and 47 per cent of the time.

They found it could identify single characters up to 88 per cent of the time.

Professor Toshimasa believes the technology could be used to help people who have lost the ability to speak, or have become paralysed, to communicate.

The told MailOnline that so far they have trained the system to recognise seven Japanese words, but hope to expand it in the future.

He said: 'It could help with communication with aged people.'

He continued that the technology could also be adapted to allow people to control robots through the power of thought by helping the machines interpret instructions from brain activity.

The team focused on a part of the brain known as Broca's area, which is thought to be involved in language processing and speech (pictured in purple)

The brain reading technology could be used to help astronauts communicate in space (stock picture used) as sound does not travel in the near vacuum in orbit around the Earth. Astronauts instead need to rely upon radio communications, but the mind-reading device could make this process easier

Elsewhere, astronauts or deep-sea divers could use it improve communication in outer space or underwater where sounds can be distorted or difficult to transmit.

Speaking to the Japanese newspaper Nishinippon, Professor Toshimasa explained: 'Applications such as manipulating robots also become possible.'