Scientists utilizing MRI to try and predict intentions

Posted Mar 6, 2007 at 12:08AM EST by Karl B.

Listed in: Tags: Berlin, gaming accessories, Germany, Leipzig, MRI, Psychology, Washington

Tinfoilf hats for your protection - Image 1

Scientists in Germany have finally figured out a way to read people's minds.

PhysOrg.com reports that a team from Berlin's Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience is definitely breaking new psychic ground with their research. The team, led by Dr. John-Dylan Haynes, used MRI machines to track and identify brain activity in order to predict whether their subjects would add or subtract two given numbers.

Before you go all bonkers and start hoarding tinfoil to make into "protective hats," please note that this is only possible through the use of an MRI machine, and it's not very accurate. In fact, the 71 percent accuracy rate is only about 20 percent more successful than random selection.

"It's really weird," said Tanja Steinbach, a 21-year-old Leipzig student who participated in the experiment. "But since I know they're only able to do this if they have certain machines, I'm not worried that everybody else on the street can read my mind."

Still, the research has managed to stir up some interest in the scientific community. "Haynes' experiment strikes at the heart of how good we will get at predicting behaviors," said Dr. Todd Braver, an associate professor in the department of psychology at Washington University. "The barriers that we assumed existed in reading our minds keep getting breached."

Haynes, meanwhile, envisions more benign uses (i.e., not in any way similar to "Minority Report") for the research. For example, he says it could contribute to the development of machines already in existence that respond to brain signals and allow the paralyzed to change TV channels, surf the Internet, and operate small robotic devices.

Via PhysOrg

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Scientists utilizing MRI to try and predict intentions

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