About Us Portfolio Press Careers Sitemap Advertise Contact Us Make this your Homepage

Custom Search

Register

Sign In

Sign In Using Facebook

Home » Mental Health News

Researchers Find New Technique To Detect Lies By Looking At Someone's Brain Activity

by Aruna on July 17, 2009 at 9:32 AM Mental Health News

Researching into the cognitive process involved with honesty researchers say that truthfulness depends more on absence of temptation than active resistance to temptation.

Related Links

Harvard University psychologists, Assistant Professor Joshua Greene and graduate student Joe Paxton, the duo that led the study, have revealed that they used neuroimaging to look at the brain activity of people given the chance to gain money dishonestly by lying, and found that honest people showed no additional neural activity when telling the truth.

The researchers say that that observation implied that extra cognitive processes were not necessary to choose honesty.

However, the researchers also found that individuals who behaved dishonestly, even when telling the truth, showed additional activity in brain regions that involve control and attention.

"Being honest is not so much a matter of exercising willpower as it is being disposed to behave honestly in a more effortless kind of way. This may not be true for all situations, but it seems to be true for at least this situation," says Greene.

The researchers say that they carried out the study to test two theories about the nature of honesty - the "Will" theory, in which honesty results from the active resistance of temptation, and the "Grace" theory in which honesty is a product of lack of temptation.

Writing about their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they have suggested that the "Grace" theory is true, because the honest participants did not show any additional neural activity when telling the truth.

Page 1

Page 1 | 2

Next

Violence High Among University Students

Walking Or Biking To Work Is Beneficial To Health

More News on: Parkinsons Disease, Brain, Brain Facts, Ataxia, Parkinsons Disease Surgical Treatment

Comment & Contribute

Be the first to comment!
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters
	Notify me when reply is posted I agree to the terms and conditions
Your comments are automatically posted once they are submitted. All comments are however constantly reviewed for spam and irrelevant material (such as product or personal advertisements, email addresses, telephone numbers and website address). Such insertions do not conform to our policy and 'Terms of Use' and are either deleted or edited and republished. Please keep your comments brief and relevant.This section may also have questions seeking help. If you have the information you are welcome to respond, but please ensure that the information so provided is genuine and not misleading.

Medwonders Health Network

Support Groups Members Discussions

Total Members - 54846
Support Groups - 445

Health News Index

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Latest News Most Popular Most Commented

C-Sections may be Harmful for Premature Babies

Breast Cancer and Pregnancy: New Research

European Psychologists Voice Concerns Over New DSM Criteria

Bouncing �Rubber Eggs� Hit China Markets

Video-Based Home Exercise Able to Ease Osteoarthritis Pain and Perk Up Mobility

News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :

Quiz on Brain
Feeling bad, sad, silly or glad? Find out what is responsible by taking part in our brain quiz.

News Quick Links

	News Central			Health Watch
	Latest Health News			Health In Focus
	News Category (500+)			Breaking Health News
	Popular News			Celebrating Life
	Health News and Press Release			Medindia - Exclusive
	News Photo Gallery			India Special
	News Video Gallery			Lifestyle and Wellness
	News From Other Resources

Brain

Complete Medindia Resources

News Categories:


»	Career Graph is Great for People Who Have Easy to Pronounce Names

»	6000-Calorie Breakfast Consumed in 26 Minutes

»	Study Reveals Why You Should Not Opt for Window Seat During Long Flight

»	Sexual Favors for Taxi Fares Common in Australia Says Indian-origin Cabbie

»	Effective Weight Loss With Anti-obesity Drugs and a Modified Lifestyle: Study
More Life Style News

Mental Health Related News
»	RAP Trial to Determine Whether Fish Oil can Help Prevent Mental Disorders in Young People	»	Study Finds Depressed Adolescents Risk Being Bullied More
»	Dementia Research Group's New Findings	»	Research on Alzheimer's-Related Protein in Healthy Adults May Reveal Initial Signs of Disease
»	Men Better Than Women at Recollecting Unpleasant Experiences	»	Clarifying Addiction Jargons
»	Depression Induced by Chronic Illnesses can be Eased With Exercise	»	Surprise Location of Brain's Speech Centre Than Believed

Read More >>

Accident and Trauma Care Support Group	Acupuncture Support Group	Albinism / Hypopigmentation / Albinos Support Group
Alcohol abuse / Alcohol dependence / Alcoholism Support Group	Aromatherapy Support Group	Avian Influenza / Bird Flu Support Group
Ayurveda Support Group	Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Support Group	Birth Defects - Metabolic Defects Support Group

Researchers Find New Technique To Detect Lies By Looking At Someone's Brain Activity

Medwonders Health Network

Mental Health Related News

Consumers

Medical Professionals

Medical Students

Directories