Brain-Based Memory Detection and the New Science of Mind Reading

Abstract

Abstract Neuroimaging studies reveal distinct brain activations when people encounter something they recognize relative to something novel. Such a “neural signature” of memory could theoretically be used as a forensic tool to detect whether or not someone remembers a given entity. This chapter examines the ways that researchers have used electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging to capture temporal and spatial brain activation profiles that index different recognition memory states. Studies have addressed forensically relevant factors such as the examination of memories acquired in real-world contexts, classification of individual subjects rather than analysis of group differences, and the effect of subjects’ deployment of evasive countermeasures. Recent development of multivariate analysis techniques, capable of decoding brain activity patterns on individual trials, show promise for yielding inferences about a subject’s memory for specific stimuli or event details. Critical methodological shortcomings that may ultimately limit the forensic value of brain-based memory detection are discussed.