KBTV::Fingerprinting: A Window into the Mind ... Part III
SCRIPT: (August 16, 2007)
Today we begin our final installment of our three-part series “Fingerprints: A Window into the Mind.” Over the past two days, I’ve explored how scientists are using a technique called “brain fingerprinting” to literally read brain scans to see if potential suspects have specific, incriminating information about a crime – read if they’ve committed a crime. Today we’ll look at two researchers who are building on that technology to create the ultimate lie detector … one that looks inside the brain to unequivocally determine whether or not someone is lying.
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Author James Halperin wrote a 1996 science fiction novel called The Truth Machine, which describes how society would react to the creation of an infallible lie detector machine. His book is set in 2024, which to some may seem silly. But scientists are claiming that advances in brain scanning techniques … make certain that the creation of such a device … such as the one discussed in this piece … a reality in the next five to ten years.
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For decades now law enforcement and government agencies have used polygraph tests to determine whether or not someone is lying. The problem is that even today … the most sophisticated lie detector tests are not 100 percent accurate. In fact, many say they’re no better than just guessing if someone is lying or not – also, my source at the FBI tells me they’re just too easy to beat. Well, all this may soon be a moot point. According to J. Peter Rosenfeld, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, the science of lie detection may be coming of age with brain scans that literally “see” if a person is lying.
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This week Dr. Daniel Langleben and Dr. Ruben Gur from the University of Pennsylvania released results of a study in which they used a functional MRI to detect whether people were lying. In their study, "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the Brain During Deception," they asked 18 participants to lie about the playing card they were held while being scanned inside an MRI machine.
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By measuring the level of blood flow to specific regions in the brain, the scientists two regions that quote activated … or lit up … when a person lied: the anterior cingulated cortex (located just behind the forehead) and the left premotor cortex (located near the ear). They believe these regions, which are used for attention and judgment, are “activated to suppress or inhibit the truth.” This is interesting stuff, they say, but more studies still need to be done.
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OK. Put on your seatbelt, here. The notion of scanning a person’s brain to determine whether or not they’re lying is complicated by the fact that the person has to KNOW he or she is lying … here you might want to refer back to my two-part series, recently broadcast called The Legacy of Lying. So we’re basically talking about two separate parts of the same issue … one, the person is simply a pathological liar, and he actually believes his own lies … the other is a bit more nuanced ... say an eyewitness to a crime scene … who really, honestly believes she saw what she thinks she saw … but is mistaken.
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As science fiction novelist James Halperin points out in his book The Truth Machine, there are many benefits of having an infallible lie detector machine … catching criminals, identifying terrorists, seeing if politicians are really telling the truth. But are these things worth the costs to our privacy ... such as one's sexual orientation, or unusual religious beliefs, or drug or sexual habits? I’ve always been told the most destructive and pernicious lie is the one someone tells you that he told in order to protect you. But, I want to know what you think … is there any lie that’s a good lie?
Please tell me your thoughts in the comments box below.
KBTV::Fingerprinting: A Window into the Mind ... Part II
SCRIPT: (August 15, 2007)
I’m Kate Bohner for KBTVonline …thanks for joining! Today we begin Part II of our three-part series “Fingerprints: A Window into The Mind.” Yesterday I discussed new technology that enables scientists to identify someone’s gender, their eating and smoking habits … even illicit drug activity … simply by looking at the smudge left from a single fingerprint. Today I explore how scientists are taking that one step further with technology that literally reads people’s minds to help determine whether or not they’ve committed a crime!
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The technique is called brain fingerprinting. And … according to Dr. Lawrence Farwell, a psychiatrist who heads up the Human Brain Research Laboratory in Fairfield, Iowa, this technique can equally as important as, say, recovering fingerprints or DNA from a crime scene. By studying a particular type of brain scan, Dr. Farwell can discern whether or not certain information about a crime is stored inside a person’s memory. The obvious advantage to this instead of, say, gathering fingerprints or DNA at a crime scene … is that people’s brains are like video cameras … they record everything they see.
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So … how does brain fingerprinting really work? According to Dr, Farwell, a person is put through two sets of tests … one where words and images from a crime scene are flashed in front of his or her eyes … in the second part of the test … irrelevant words and pictures are shown. When person being studied recognizes specific bits of information certain electrical brain impulses are involuntarily elicited. Dr. Farwell calls these impulses “electroencephalographic responses” or MERMERS … that’s MERMERS. And this is the clincher. Let’s say certain details of a crime that have not been in the press … only the investigators and the perpetrator would know this particular bit information … a person cannot control when his or her brain emits an impulse … or the MERMER when it recognizes that particular detail. I love this part ... (KATE AD LIBS STORY ABOUT 18-INCH, SERRATED HUNTING KNIFE!)
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Dr. Farwell claims his tests have been 100 percent accurate. An example, he correctly identified 17 FBI agents out of 21 people tested. Dr. Farwell said he hopes to use the technology to detect possible terrorists. For example, he says, the technology could be used to screen frequent travelers from Afghanistan to see if they have or do not have specific information about how Osama bin Laden trains recruits at his terrorist camps.
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Tune in tomorrow for the final installment of our series “Fingerprints: A Window into the Mind” to learn how scientists, through brain fingerprinting and MRI scans, are creating the ultimate lie detector tests which … they say … will be used by everyone from law enforcement officials to homeland security agents … to EVEN ... cheating spouses!
KBTV::Fingerprinting: A Window into the Mind ... Part I
SCRIPT: (August 13, 2007)
Good morning. Welcome to KBTVonline ... Thanks for joining! Today our saga on creepy, yet innovative technology continues as we begin a three-part series called "Fingerprints: A Window into the Mind." Scientists are experimenting with new research to create what they’re calling "brain fingerprints" – this is an amalgamation of fingerprint technology and mind mapping -- and its being used to discover the most personal information about people … what they eat, their sexual orientation … even to determine whether or not they’re lying! Today, in part one of the series, we’ll focus on some innovative research -- just out from a group of scientists in London -- that allows law enforcement officials to tell some of the most intimate details about a person, just from a fingerprint.
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Scientists at Imperial College of London have shown that fingerprints contain information that clues us in on a person’s day-to-day habits. Yes, these researchers say they can now identify a person’s key behavioral patterns – just by carefully studying their fingerprints. Just one, single drop of sweat can tell a person’s eating and smoking habits, as well as a person’s sex. In other words, they no longer need blood. The technology allows law enforcement officers to build the beginnings of profile … simply based on a single thumb print left … say … at a crime scene.
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So how does it all work? The professors at the Imperial of London say they identify the chemical pattern inside the fingerprint … that is where the crucial infomation lies. For example, the number of proteins present in the identifying fingerprint can show whether or not someone is a vegetarian. The same goes for smokers – your fingerprints leave thinly-veiled traces of nicotine. As reported by the journal of Analytical Chemistry, the collection of sweat, grease and other liquid left behind with a fingerprint is what allows the analysis to be done.
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Remember this way of studying fingerprints is brand new. Therefore, CSIs at crime scenes can no longer collect finger prints using the traditional … brushing of power … then lifting them with tape. This distorts the fragile, molecular chemical structure needed to study the print. Instead this collection technique seeks to preserve the entire print — with a gelatin-based, sticky strip of adhesive, a steady hand, and an almost obsessive attention to detail. Once the sample is collected, infra-red technology is used to scan the fingerprint, providing a breakdown of the chemicals present in the print left behind. The good news here is that fingerprints can still be collected from a wide variety of surfaces – from door handles, eye glasses, surfaces of cars and countertops … basically anything your hand touches.
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So you might be asking yourself why? What exactly are scientists attempting to track using this new technology? I asked my source at the FBI … what’s new here? First, he tells me, Crime Scene Investigations are not what you see on network television. They almost never have that kind of pristine evidence shown in CSI Miami. He tells me if a crime scene is not corrupted by the criminal itself – it is often old. With this new technology … law enforcement officials can determine how old the crime scene is, the sex of the person or people who were there, there basic eating and smoking habits … whether or not they ingested prescription or drugs and perhaps most importantly traces of gun power and biological or chemical weapons.
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The good news here is that the analysis can be done with equipment already in place at crime labs, so law enforcement agencies could have this technology in hand within the next year. Tune in tomorrow – Wednesday – to learn how scientists, through a technique called brain fingerprinting, are able to discern a person’s propensity for anti-social behavior … read are they prone to be a criminals? Or not. Also, don’t forget to tune in the following day … Thursday … for the conclusion of this original KBTVonline series … as we take a closer look at the ultimate lie detector test! I’m Kate Bohner … see you tomorrow.
KBTV::Back From Vacation .. Finally!
It was midnight and I was exhausted. My house smelled like burnt freon from the air conditioner. Oh no. Not again.
I plop down on the couch and lift the lid of my computer to check my email.
"1 message pending ... "
It read:
Great great news!!!!!! Lying and obesity are both on the iPhone in
the youtube viewer!!!!! This means that the KBTV stories are in the
top 0.1% of all shows on youtube in terms of popularity!
Amazing ... Congratulations!!! I just searched for kate bohner and
they are there and work !!!!!
Wow! What a great way to come home ... an even better way to go back to work!
Suddently the burnt freon no longer mattered ;-)
Sent from my iPhone
KBTV::Kate's Vacation!
Yes, it’s true. I am going on vacation. I will miss you all, but no one will have to miss their daily dose of KBTVonline! The content is in the capable hands of my web servant, Jason Parsley!
Bye, Bye!
