We've all been in situations where we wish we could read someone's mind: Does that person like me? What is the answer to my teacher's question? Is my parent in the right mood to buy me a new video game? Recent developments in neuroscience suggest that the ability to read someone's mind might not always be a sci-fi fantasy.
Imagine the following: A man is on trial for committing a crime-say, stealing from a jewelry store. In the courtroom, he claims that he's never even been to the store in question, so he couldn't have possibly done what he is accused of. But during the trial, he undergoes a brain scan. During the scan, he looks at images of his childhood home (a place he recognizes). He sees a restaurant in a country that he's never been to (a place he doesn't recognize). And he views the jewelry store where the crime occurred (a place he claims he doesn't recognize).
The brain scan shows that his brain activity when viewing the jewelry store looks much more similar to his brain when viewing his childhood home than the restaurant. This shows that he recognizes the jewelry store, which suggests that he is lying about never having been there. The lawyer uses the brain scan as evidence in the trial, and the man is convicted of stealing from the jewelry store. In essence, she has used his own thoughts against him.
Will this scenario one day be possible? And is it even desirable? Neuroscientists have developed and tested technology that can detect whether a person recognizes a place or object. Whether they will ever actually read someone's thoughts is another story.
From Voxels to Thoughts
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
