I’ve often wondered what future advancements in neuroscience will bring to criminal justice. The intriguing concept of utilizing neurotechnology for forensic purposes is hot topic these days. Daniel Meegan’s article on neuroimaging techniques for memory detection expands on this notion. He notes that memory detection techniques provide more accuracy than lie detection techniques according to the theory that an existing memory is detectable regardless of the occurrence of a lie. Memory detection consists of simple measures of neural responses frequently evoked by stimuli. In theory, if a particular stimulus present in the crime scene, brain activity would differ between someone who was not present at the scene and someone who was. Meegan mentions using a Brain fingerprint technique to “exploit the fact that the brain responds differently to sensory stimuli to which is has been exposed before.”
This is a very new concept in need of development, but it is quite thought provoking and full of attention. What if we could replace the vulnerable, fallible lie detector tests with memory detection? Would this be ethical or an invasion of privacy?
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