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Memory Traces, Memory Errors, and the Possibility of Neural Lie Detection

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Brain Theory

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Abstract

The civic response to crime is forever challenged by the human inclination to lie, deceive, mislead, and distort. There is thus perennial interest in creating lie detectors, which can distinguish between honest and deceptive reports during interrogation. Most lie detectors work by identifying behavioral or physiological correlates of deception. The traditional polygraph test, for example, measures a person’s heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure (amongst other physiological markers) while he or she answers questions, detecting the elevated arousal that often accompanies deception. The problems with such measures are well known: the connection between arousal and deception is imperfect, and respondents can develop tactics by which the connection is further weakened or suppressed. Many are excited by advances in neuroscience, which suggest the possibility of neural lie detection (e.g., Spence et al. 2001), as these are thought to provide more direct and reliable measures of guilt and deception.

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Authors
  1. Sarah K. Robins
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ghent University, Belgium

    Charles T. Wolfe

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© 2014 Sarah K. Robins

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Robins, S.K. (2014). Memory Traces, Memory Errors, and the Possibility of Neural Lie Detection. In: Wolfe, C.T. (eds) Brain Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369580_10

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