Zapping the brain with magnets makes it impossible to lie
Baku, September 9 (AZERTAC). 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`.
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.
Other news in this section
