Chapter 1. Brain Fingerprinting: Memory, Recognition, and Lie Detection

Short Description

This video explores how information stored in the brain might be used in crime detection.

Long Description

This video explores how information stored in the brain might be used in crime detection. Researcher Lawrence Farwell describes brain fingerprinting as a technique that uses electrical brain-wave activity to determine whether specific information is stored in the brain. The recognition of specific stimuli (words, phrases, pictures) triggers a specific electrical signal. Because our brains maintain a record of important experiences and activities, Farwell argues that brain fingerprinting can determine whether a suspect has hidden knowledge of a crime. Farwell demonstrates the technology in the testing of a suspect in a murder carried out years earlier. An observer had testified that, after the murder, the suspect had run behind a building to escape. Tall weeds and grass would have impeded his effort. Farwell flashes "weeds and grass," as well as other relevant stimuli, on the computer screen. The suspect's failure to recognize the crime-relevant stimuli suggest that he is innocent.

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