Language-content decoding with functional ultrasound imaging

Establish whether functional ultrasound imaging responses distinguish words or sentences within a language task, rather than merely identifying task-related language activity, under a specified recording-access route.

Background

The survey reports that intra-operative functional ultrasound imaging can measure task-related haemodynamic responses during language-related activity. However, mapping a language response only establishes that the recording is sensitive to the task or region; it does not demonstrate that the signal contains distinctions among linguistic items.

The paper therefore separates localisation from content decoding and identifies word- or sentence-level discrimination as the unresolved next step. This question is particularly important because functional ultrasound access routes differ substantially, including intra-operative recordings, cranial windows, and intact-skull feasibility studies.

References

Agreement between maps supports localisation of a task response. It leaves open whether that response distinguishes the words or sentences within the task.

— Brain-to-Language Decoding: Tasks, Signals, Methods, Evaluation, Practical Use and Beyond  (2609.27650 - Yang et al., 23 Sep 2026) in Section 3.5.3, “Functional ultrasound: mapping and decoding boundaries,” paragraph “Localising a response is the first step”