Deception Detection Using Neuroimaging

During the last decade, neuroimaging methods and paradigms have begun to be applied to study deception and to attempt to detect deception in the laboratory. This chapter reviews and discusses fMRI-based detection deception studies carried out to date within a general theoretical framework of mental state detection. The key issues addressed include the single-subject accuracy of fMRI-based detection methods, their replicability across studies and their potential for application in real-life situations. Although there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic, the overall evidence suggests that these methods are not quite ready for prime time yet and that much more research is needed to assess their full potential.