brain scanner!

scientists at the University College London claimed this week to have taken the first steps towards building a “mind-reading device”.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners, the UCL team discovered they could use brief recordings of brain activity to predict which of two objects volunteers were viewing – with 80% accuracy.

Scientists also found they could use brain scans to predict which object was present even when the objects had been masked to appear invisible to the volunteer, suggesting that unconscious processes in the brain were registering the object.

Dr Geraint Rees of the UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience said: “If our approach could be expanded upon, it might be possible to predict what someone was thinking or seeing from their brain activity alone.”

A “mind-reading device” would undoubtedly be a boon to market researchers – though it would raise serious ethical questions.