Brain Scan: the Next Lie Detector?
By Jeff Pizzino, APR, Corporate Communications –
Brain scan technology could be used as a lie detector in the future, but it needs some improving.
For years, scientists have tried to use science to “read” people to determine truthfulness. For example, the polygraph has been used as a lie detector since 1939. Technology has also been used to analyze stress in a person¹s voice, to measure facial temperatures, and other methods have been used to measure or predict behavior based on neural processes.
In recent months, University of Texas Professor Dr. Sarah Helfinstein published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal regarding brain scans and their ability to determine an individual’s likelihood of taking risks. The study gave people “points” for pumps exerted to inflate a balloon; if the balloon exploded, they’d lose all points, but if they chose to stop before that point, they could keep the points. An MRI scanner scanned the brain to determine which areas lit up before a study subject chose to keep pumping the balloon or stop.
The best choice predictors were the areas of the brain associated with attention, working memory, and control — which indicates that activating control areas of the brain is what leads an individual to make more cautious choices (Johnson 2014). Conversely, lack of control may indicate a greater chance of taking a risk.
Lie Detector Potential?
The findings from Helfinstein’s fascinating study were then applied practically. The results were used to then create a software program in which taking a risk could be predicted with 71.8 percent accuracy. A rate of 72 percent is remarkably high in accuracy; however, the method of determination is costly and would likely not be ready for the mass market. In addition, the decades-old lie detector, the polygraph, has also shown a similar rate of accuracy.
EyeDetect, an instrument invented by those who created the digital polygraph, has been proven to be 85 percent accurate and is easily administered in a wide range of circumstances. It can be used to accompany polygraph examinations or interrogations, and its accurate prediction of deception makes it an especially useful tool for business owners and governments.
EyeDetect is an affordable and easy to use lie detector and can gauge an individual’s level of honesty in an unbiased and non-intrusive manner.
