Researchers this week revealed that the best video gamers
could be reliably predicted by measuring the size and weight of their brain.
The new study in the journal "Cerebral Cortex"
claims that performance on a video game can be correlated with the volume of
specific brain structures in the cerebral cortex.
Separately, the new journal "WIREs
Cognitive Science" claims that a new field called "neurolaw"
could determine suspects' guilt by "reading their minds" from brain
scans.
Using the characteristics of our brain as indicators of
mental performance, and our criminal intentions from its content, is of
increasing interest to researchers worldwide. The researchers in the "Cerebral
Cortex" study claim that almost a quarter of the variability among video
gamers' performance can be traced to the volume of specific parts of the
cerebral cortex, namely the caudate nucleus and the putamen in the dorsal
striatum, and the nucleus accumbens in the ventral striatum.
These brain structures were already known to relate to motor
skills, as well as the ability to learn new procedures, develop useful
strategies and react quickly to a changing environment. This new study,
however, marks "the first time that we've been able to take a real world
task like a video game and show that the size of specific brain regions is
predictive of performance and learning rates," said professor Kirk
Erickson at the University of Pittsburgh. Also contributing to the work was
professor Ann Graybiel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
professor Arthur Kramer at the University
of Illinois and professor Walter
Boot at Florida State
University.
The caudate nucleus and putamen are involved in motor
learning, and the nucleus accumbens is involved in the emotions associated with
reward and punishment. But should reward and punishment be meted out depending
on the "intentions" in our brain and memories?
The article titled "Neurolaw" in the debut issue
of "WIREs Cognitive Science" tries to answer the following questions:
-
What if a jury could decide a man's guilt through mind
reading?
-
What if reading a defendant's memory could betray his or her
guilt?
-
What constitutes "intent" to commit murder?
In "Neurolaw," co-authors Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
and Annabelle Belcher assess the potential of cognitive science to
revolutionize the legal system in a manner similar to DNA
evidence—that is, by offering objective proof of assertions that were
previously open to interpretation by jurors.
As cognitive science becomes increasingly accurate at
"reading minds" with tools such as functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), the traditional polygraph lie detector will likely be replaced
with high-tech derivatives that can detect lies more accurately. These
"brain fingerprinting" techniques seek to detect a brain's electrical
oscillation signature (BEOS), which may be capable of detecting "guilty
knowledge" of crimes.
