Mind reading? scientists decode imagined chinese speech from brain activity

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age between 20 and 80 years. * Ability and willingness to provide informed consent and comply with study procedures. * No severe preoperative emotional or consciousness disorders that would preclude participation in experimental tasks. * For patients undergoing intraoperative temporary high-density ECoG coverage: Patients with cerebral eloquent-area gliomas or refractory epilepsy undergoing awake craniotomy as part of standard clinical management. * For patients undergoing intraoperative temporary high-density ECoG coverage: Lesions involving or adjacent to eloquent brain areas including language, motor, or memory-related regions. * For patients undergoing intraoperative temporary high-density ECoG coverage: Mild mass effect without severe intracranial hypertension. * For patients undergoing intraoperative temporary high-density ECoG coverage: Preoperative language function largely preserved, with naming, reading, and language comprehension ≥80% of normal performance. * For patients undergoing permanent high-density ECoG implantation: Severe speech or language dysfunction caused by stroke, brain tumors, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or locked-in syndrome. * For patients undergoing permanent high-density ECoG implantation: No substantial improvement after 3-6 months of adequate rehabilitation and disease duration \>12 months. * For patients undergoing permanent high-density ECoG implantation: Structural integrity of speech imagery-related cortices (ventral central lobule, supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus). * For patients undergoing permanent high-density ECoG implantation: Diagnosis of severe dysarthria or severe motor aphasia, with spontaneous speech score \<5/20 on the Aphasia Battery of Chinese (ABC) and auditory comprehension ≥80% of normal levels. Exclusion Criteria: * Significant mass effect with severe intracranial hypertension precluding awake craniotomy or electrode implantation. * Severe neurological dysfunction that would prevent participation in study procedures (except for speech or language impairment in the permanent implantation cohort). * Contraindications to MRI scanning or awake craniotomy, including incompatible implanted medical devices, severe claustrophobia, or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. * Severe psychiatric disorders or cognitive impairment preventing participation in treatment or follow-up assessments (Mini-Mental State Examination score \<24). * Severe systemic medical comorbidities. * Pregnancy or lactation. * Refusal or inability to provide informed consent.