Mind-Reading Technology?

[INRM]

I remember hearing of a fMRI that could actually determine a person's intentions with an accuracy of 70 to 75%, and that one day they could not just figure if a person's going to add or subtract, but could even determine abstract thoughts.

There have been some neurologists, including some of the people who created this technology (the ability to identify typical paterns in brain activity to determine intent), were pushing for a new field of ethics called "neuroethics" to make sure technology like this wouldn't be compulsory or be used as the ultimate lie-detector. (I do remember hearing a statement that the only thing more dangerous than a lie-detector that doesn't work is one that does.)

Has this technology progressed any further?


(BTW: This is purely anecdotal, but a comedian made reference to something like this being used or being planned to be used at airports... that *WAS* a joke right? -- These days you never know!)


Don't worry everybody, I'm not about to make a tin-foil hat or anything, but I just wonder where this technology is heading

INRM

[phaed]

fMRI is still too coarse to be used to "read minds," but yes, the ultimate goal of computational neuroscience is to have a catalog, or glossary, of the neurophysiological patterns that correspond to various mental states (and therefore thoughts). They may not ever be able to know whether you're thinking about ice cream or a hot dog, but they may be able to discrimate whether you're thinking about food or sex.

[This Guy]

I don't know anything about the OP question directly, but there was an interesting article in Scientific American (forget which issue, but if asked, I'll dig it out) in micro-eye movements. They called them something else, but that's what it amounts to.

Seems these movements are something we all have, and while they are imperceptible to us, they have a tendency to focus on things that we are more interested in than the main object we are viewing. As an example, we may be doing an interview for a job say, and while looking at the face of the person conducting the interview, we may have these micro-eye movements toward some other object in the room. Being able to detect and identify the focus of those micro movements could (according to the folks studying the subject) help determine what is really catching your attention. This of course could possibly be used to determine more about your personality.

The article was interesting, and while counter views were also given, the main point was that the eyes might someday serve as a window to the mind.

Not a de-rail attempt, just wanted to share something related, yet taking a different approach to reading the mind.