Musings on Life
Zapping the brain with magnets makes it IMPOSSIBLE to lie, claim scientists
By Ted Thornhill and David Derbyshire
Last updated at 3:06 PM on 8th September 2011
Mind out: The brain is susceptible to magnetic interference
If truth be told, magnetic interference with the brain makes it impossible to lie. At least, that’s what a group of Estonian researchers are claiming.
They found that when magnets were applied to either the right or left side of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, found directly behind your forehead, it made you lie or tell the truth, depending on which side was stimulated.
When magnetic interference was directed at another part of the brain, the parietal lobe, the subjects’ decision-making remain unchanged.
‘Spontaneous choice to lie more or less can be influenced by brain stimulation,’ researchers Inga Karton and Talis Bachmann wrote in Behavioural Brain Research.
The experiment involved giving 16 volunteers disks that varied in colour.
Half were then given magnetic stimulation on the right side of their prefrontal cortex, half on the left.
More...
They then had two options: to lie about what colour their disks were, or tell the truth.
Remarkably, those stimulated on the left side fibbed a great deal more, those on the right showed much more honesty.
Scientists last year found that magnets can also be used to disrupt the brain’s ‘moral compass’.
Redundant: Magnetic interference would render lie detectors useless
The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanours or good works.
In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral.
The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.
Dr Liane Young, who led the study, said: 'You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour. To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people's moral judgements is really astonishing.'
The moral compass lies in a part of the brain called the right temporo-parietal junction. It lies near the surface of the brain, just behind the right ear.
The researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a non-invasive technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt the area of the brain.
The technique generates a magnetic field on a small part of the skull which creates weak electric currents in the brain. These currents interfere with nearby brain cells and prevent them from firing normally.
In the first experiment, 12 volunteers were exposed to the magnetic field for 25 minutes before they were given a series of 'moral maze' style scenarios.
For each of the 192 scenarios, they were asked to make a judgement about the character's actions on a scale of 1 for 'absolutely forbidden' to 7 for 'absolutely permissible'.
In the second experiment, the magnetic field was applied to their heads at the time they were asked to weigh up the behaviour of the characters in the scenario.
In both experiments, the magnetic field made the volunteers less moral.
One scenario described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge he knew was unsafe. The girl survived unharmed.Under normal conditions, most people rate the man's behaviour as unacceptable. But after getting the magnetic pulse, the volunteers tended to see nothing wrong with his actions - and judged his behaviour purely on whether his girlfriend survived.
NeuroStar TMS Therapy ®Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy. Hope is available - Area Locations.www.NeuroStarTMS.comComments (32)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have not been moderated.
Rather than fitting electronic tags to offenders, we might see them with magnets on their heads!
- John, Cardiff, 11/9/2011 01:08
The person who's lying is the journalist who wrote this. The research said nothing about it being impossible to lie.
- Anton, London, 10/9/2011 12:05
Putting somebodies head next to one of those giant industrial strength magnets like those used to contain the plasma in the Nuclear fusion article in this section would probably make it impossible to live anymore.
- leew, lancashire, 10/9/2011 10:27
Interesting, I wonder if this is also why people like me, with Asperger's (Autistic), find it very hard to lie. Maybe whatever the magnets do it gives people similar brain wiring to people with AS, Could this then lead to some kind of cure for autism, like maybe wearing a magnetic band, mind you if we cured autistic conditions we'd be in a right mess because some of the best things have been created by autistic people.
- Darren Forster , Ludlow, UK, 10/9/2011 07:04
Can we do this to politicians? Nah, more likely the poor folk who work at McDonalds will be subjected to it.
- O'Brother, US, 10/9/2011 04:33
As mobile phones create magnetic fields close to the ear, does this mean you have to change which ear you use depending on whether you want to lie or tell the truth!
- Steve, Christchurch, 09/9/2011 22:27
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
We are no longer accepting comments on this article.
Promiscuously Curious Founder & Chairman of Intelligence Consultancy Aurora WDC
Managing Director of the Center for Organizational Reconnaissance, an intelligence R&D lab and policy think tank
See Clearly, Think Ahead, Break Through
艾利克 强生 曙神星世界發展公司 谨慎 远见 创新
Promiscuously Curious Founder & Chairman of Intelligence Consultancy Aurora WDC
Managing Director of the Center for Organizational Reconnaissance, an intelligence R&D lab and policy think tank
See Clearly, Think Ahead, Break Through
艾利克 强生 曙神星世界發展公司 谨慎 远见 创新
Theme created for Posterous by Obox
