Would-be criminals may find life difficult in the future, as a group of Penn researchers have developed an advanced method of detecting lies -- by scanning brains.
The group, lead by Psychiatry professor Daniel Langleben, has used functional magnetic resonance imaging technology to detect increases or decreases in brain activity.
The researchers started by surveying a group of 25 male subjects -- including several Penn students and faculty.
"We wanted to determine the difference in brain activity associated with lying and telling the truth," Langleben said. "We found a clear increase in brain work in the prefrontal cortex associated with lying."
Following this initial research, a second round of tests confirmed that the fMRI scan could detect a lie by a single subject in a specific session.
"Not only were our findings conclusive, but since we started, they have been replicated by two other independent groups in Michigan and North Carolina," Langleben said. "This suggests that we indeed have valid and feasible results."
However, he added that the fMRI research would have to undergo years of more rigorous testing before it could have applications outside of academic circles. In particular, it remains to be seen how well the scan will be able to detect lies if the subject deliberately tries to hide them.
"It can be hypothesized that the fMRI will be more stable than a polygraph in the presence of counter measures, but we would need to do a head-to-head comparison in field conditions," Langleben said. "All it needs is more validation and testing."
If the project receives necessary funding, Langleben feels that it will definitely have useful applications in the commercial sphere within five to 10 years, in the fields of criminology and psychotherapy in particular.
However, School of Social Policy and Practice professor Laura McCloskey -- part of the Graduate Group in Criminology -- feels that the application of the fMRI technology to criminology will be limited, even if the technology proves to be more reliable than a polygraph lie-detector test.
"There will always be a certain error. There's no test that you can administer that will be 100 percent effective," she said. "I think that this level of error will basically be a barrier to the use of fMRI data in the court."
She also had reservations about the ethics of using such an invasive method to extract information from people against their will.
"My concern would be that this sort of technology could be misapplied to people that don't enjoy equal legal protection," she said.
College senior Michael Benz disagrees. He feels that the fMRI technology should definitely be utilized once it is further developed.
"I am very much in support of it being used. I think it is completely ethical," he said. "Any sort of biological source for detecting lies is going to be more reliable than any subjective one."
He added that with further testing, the technology would also have useful applications to criminology.
"I would recommend it at least as a preliminary basis," he said. "I don't think it will be conclusive in itself, but I would use it in conjunction with other evidence."
