IT WORKS almost like a psychic, only this time it's scientific. Researchers say they can read a person's deepest thoughts using a simple brain scan.
A newly developed computer programme can interpret Magnetic Resonance Imaging used to scan people's brains to reveal what types of images they have recently seen, say scientists at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto (Japan) and Princeton University in the US.
As reported by the magazine Scientific American, researchers Yukiyasu Kamitani and Frank Tong showed patients one of eight visual stimuli — images with stripes aligned in various orientations.
They determined that the MRI data collected while the volunteers were gazing at the images showed slight differences depending on what picture they viewed, based on which they wrote a computer programme that could successfully predict the images from the scan result.
Using the programme, when a volunteer was shown two sets of stripes simultaneously but told to pay attention to just one, the team could tell which set the subject was focusing on.
In a separate experiment, John-Dylan Haynes and Geraint Rees of University College, London showed volunteers two images in quick succession, the first flashing so quickly that the subjects couldn't clearly identify it. By analysing their brain activity, the scientists successfully identified which image had been shown, even when the subjects themselves didn't remember seeing it.
Together, the results elucidate how the brain reacts to stimuli, even when they are "invisible".
{{/usCountry}}Together, the results elucidate how the brain reacts to stimuli, even when they are "invisible".
{{/usCountry}}If scientists could gain a true understanding of the neural basis of subjective experience, it might one day allow for reliable prediction of a person's mental state based solely on brain scan measurements.
The technique has so far only been used to identify visual patterns a subject can see or has chosen to focus on. But researchers hypothesize it might be extended to probe a person's awareness, focus of attention, memory and intention of movement.