Detection of deception and truth-telling using fMRI of the brain

A method of deriving an indication of truth or deception comprising the steps of:

• (a) monitoring activation of a plurality of regions of a subject's brain by applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while the subject responds to questions including relevant questions to determine an fMRI indicium of response for each such region;
• (b) measuring a plurality of physiological parameters of the subject including respiratory volume, at least one cardiac parameter related to change in heart rate, and galvanic skin response (“GSR”) while the subject responds to questions including relevant questions and deriving a score for each physiological parameter based on such measurements;
• and
• (c) combining the results of steps (a) and (b) by:
• (i) calculating a composite activation score based on the degrees of activation of all of said plurality of regions, by applying a weighting factor to the fMRI indicium of response for each of said regions of the brain, the weighting factor for each region being related to a probability that activation of such region indicates deception;
• and
• (ii) combining such composite with the scores for all of the physiological parameters to form a further score indicative of truth or deception in the subject's response to the relevant questions.