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Interesting.
Zapping the brain with magnets
makes it IMPOSSIBLE to lie, claim
scientists
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.
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.
Zapping the brain with magnets makes it IMPOSSIBLE to lie | Mail Online
Zapping the brain with magnets
makes it IMPOSSIBLE to lie, claim
scientists
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.
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.
Zapping the brain with magnets makes it IMPOSSIBLE to lie | Mail Online