Frank H. Guenther (born April 18, 1964, Kansas City, MO) is an American computational and cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on the neural computations underlying speech, including characterization of the neural bases of communication disorders and development of brain–computer interfaces for communication restoration.
Guenther has given numerous keynote and distinguished lectures worldwide and has authored over 55 refereed journal articles concerning the neural bases of speech and motor control as well as brain–computer interface technology.
Frank Guenther's research is aimed at uncovering the neural computations underlying the processing of speech by the human brain.
[8][9][10] In addition to computational modeling and experimental research investigating the neural bases of speech, Guenther directs the Boston University Neural Prosthesis Laboratory, which focuses on the development of technologies that can decode the brain signals of profoundly paralyzed individuals, particularly those with locked-in syndrome, in order to control external devices such as speech synthesizers, mobile robots, and computers.
Guenther's team received widespread press coverage in 2009, when they developed a brain–computer interface for real-time speech synthesis that allowed locked-in patient Erik Ramsey to produce vowel sounds in collaboration with Dr. Philip Kennedy (inventor of the neurotrophic electrode used in the study) and Dr. Jonathan Brumberg.