Brain scans reveal intentions of calculating minds
From: NewScientist.com news service - 02/09/2007
By: Roxanne Khamsi

Brain scans that can read a person’s secret intentions even before they act
have been demonstrated by researchers.  

In a recent study, the technology was 70% accurate at predicting whether
participants planned to add or subtract a pair of numbers. Paralysed people
may one day be able to use devices based on the technique to carry out
complex actions, the researchers say. However, ethical concerns have been
raised about its possible use in interrogation. 

...

Previous technology has relied on signals from the brain’s motor region to
enable paralysed patients to write sentences this way. But this involves the
tedious task of moving a cursor across the computer screen to select from the
alphabet. Haynes says using signals from the medial prefrontal cortex might
enable people to simply think of the letter. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11144

Journal reference: Current Biology (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.072)

Related articles:
Can a brain scan prove you're telling the truth?
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11117

Mind reading machine knows your thoughts before you
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18624974.300

Mind theory
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn567

Links:
John-Dylan Haynes
http://www.neuropsychologie.uni-bremen.de/cv_haynes.htm
http://www.cbs.mpg.de/MPI_Base/NEU/Mitarbeiter/homepage_MA_html?user=haynes

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
http://www.cbs.mpg.de/MPI_Base/NEU

'Thoughts read' via brain scans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4715327.stm