From Steve Silberman, my favorite Wired writer, this piece about the reinvention of the science of lie detection through the use of functional MRI (fMRI) shows us on the crux point of transformation in hte security industry, the judicial system and our notions of privacy. The science is far ahead of the polygraph and proponents suggest so should its acceptability in the courtroom, given the fact that findings are based on peer-reviewed research and precedents such as DNA testing. The central scientific premise is that lying takes mental effort, because a person knows the truth and has to suppress it to deliberately dissemble, and that that is detectable on fMRI, which is a graphic way of watching regional cerebral metabolism (in technicolor); readers of FmH know I have long been enamored of fMRI-based insights into the localization of brain functions. The central legal battle shaping up with constitutional and privacy-rights advocates is that the technique is construed as threatening to “replace the jury as the lie detector”. Well worth reading; stay tuned, since I hope to be tracking the controversy here as it continues to unfold.

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