|
New device reads minds pretty well
Canadian
researchers say they can glean simple preferences from a person’s
brain by shining near-infrared light into the noggin.
The study, reported in the Journal of Neural Engineering,
demonstrated the ability to decode a person’s preference
for one of two drinks with 80 percent accuracy by measuring
the intensity of near-infrared light absorbed in brain tissue,
the scientists said in a statement today.
“This is the first system that decodes preference naturally
from spontaneous thoughts,” says Sheena Luu, a University
of Toronto doctoral student in biomedical engineering who
led the work under the supervision of Tom Chau, a specialist
in pediatric rehab engineering at the university’s Bloorview
Kids Rehab center.
Near-infrared light has a longer wavelength than visible light.
In the beginning of the study, nine adult volunteers rated
eight drinks on a scale of one to five.
Then, wearing a headband fitted with fiber optics that emit
light into the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, the subjects
were shown two drinks on a computer monitor, one after the
other, and asked to make a mental decision about which they
liked more.
“When your brain is active, the oxygen in your blood
increases and depending on the concentration, it absorbs more
or less light,” Luu said. “In some people, their
brains are more active when they don’t like something,
and in some people they’re more active when they do like
something.”
After teaching the computer to recognize the unique pattern
of brain activity associated with preference for each subject,
the researchers accurately predicted which drink the participants
liked best 80 percent of the time.
Other research has suggested brain activity could be monitored
before decisions are made, perhaps with a mind-reading hat
that would predict what we’ll do.
The goal of the new research is ultimately to open the world
of choice to children who can’t speak or move.
|
