Berlin – At a lab in Germany, volunteers slide into a doughnut- shaped MRI machine and perform simple tasks, such as deciding whether to add or subtract two numbers, or choosing which of two buttons to press.
They have no inkling that scientists in the next room are trying to read their minds – using a brain scan to figure out their intention before it is turned into action.
In the past, experts had been able to detect decisions about making physical movements in advance. But researchers at Berlin’s Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience claim they have now, for the first time, identified people’s decisions about how they would later do a high-level mental activity – in this case, adding versus subtracting.
Still in their initial stages, the techniques may eventually have wide-ranging implications for everything from criminal interrogations to airline security checks. And that alarms some ethicists who fear the technology could one day be abused by authorities, marketers or employers.
Researchers have long used MRI machines to identify different types of brain activity, and scientists in the United States have recently developed brain scans designed for lie detection.
But outside experts say the work, led by Dr. John-Dylan Haynes at the Bernstein Center, is groundbreaking.
“The fact that we can determine what intention a person is holding in their mind pushes the level of our understanding of subjective thought to a whole new level,” said Dr. Paul Wolpe, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not connected to the study.
The research has been of limited scope: Only 21 people have been tested. The 71 percent accuracy rate is just 21 percentage points more successful than random selection.
Civil libertarians are concerned that mind-reading technology may fit into a trend of pre-emptive security measures in which authorities could take action against individuals before they commit a crime.
Haynes believes his research has more benign practical applications, such as allowing the paralyzed to change TV channels and operate small robotic devices.
