The brain-mapping or brain-fingerprinting tools used to find out whether a suspect is lying aren’t better than the traditional polygraph test, new research has revealed.
The brain-mapping or brain-fingerprinting tools used to find out whether a suspect is lying aren’t better than the traditional polygraph test, new research has revealed.
University of Illinois professor Melissa Littlefield, has investigated the efficacy of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroenphalograohy (EEG), tests that have replaced the polygraph and were used on 9/11 suspects. Her report was published in Science, Technology and Human Values, a journal.
The article by Littlefield dismisses modern “forensically sophisticated” polygraph as unreliable. “Functional magnetic resonance imaging and brain fingerprinting(r) have been hailed as the next best technologies for lie detection,” said the scientist. “However, far from describing the brain and its functions, fMRI and brain fingerprinting(r) produce models of the brain that reinforce social notions of deception, truth and deviance.”
Her inputs assume significance in India since the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its judgment on the validity of brain-mapping and narco analysis tests. The court reserved its verdict in January 2008, about 18 months ago.
Meanwhile, Littlefield said using the old-fashioned lie detector means “you’re not really getting deception as much as your body’s reaction to the stress of deception.”
According to her, the old and the new deception-detection tools rely on the same three assumptions. First, lies are somehow measurable, that you can see them in the body through increased breathing, heart rate ... or by looking at the brain.
Second , when you look at the body and get some information — pulse rate or blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals, that somehow you’re able to see the body in action without needing any interpretation, she said. Finally, they share this assumption that truth and deception are connected. “In deception studies, if you’re looking at the polygraph or you’re looking at the fMRI, the assumption is that truth is the baseline and the factual. And to lie is to add a story on top of the truth,” Littlefield writes.
Analysts feel the revelation might make investigators rethink on drug-infused tests. Such tests were conducted on the suspects in the Aarushi Talwar murder case, but did not reveal much.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}