The Brain Never Lies
- Jun 1, 2022
- 5 min read
Written by: Janette Ghedotte, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“The brain never lies.” — Neuroscientist Dr. Lawrence Farwell.
Maestro of the Body
A principal conductor directs a symphony orchestra and integrates the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings to perform in perfect harmony. Primarily through nonverbal cueing motions of the hands, baton, and arms, along with facial expressions and eye gaze, the conductor interprets the music and signals to the musicians when and how to play the tempo, intensity, and emphasis of the score.
As the Maestro and commander-in-chief of the body, the brain directs and integrates all internal and external systems in perfect harmony. The sensory neurons of the eyes, ears, taste buds, skin, and nose have front-line responsibilities of informing the central nervous system (i.e., brain and spinal cord) what is going on within and beyond the body. The brain interprets the input and informs the motor neurons of the peripheral nervous system when and how to regulate and control body functioning.
The brain and the body work together to create the magic and the music. Everything is automatic. You don’t need to think about the body breathing, pumping blood, or circulating oxygen because the brain and the body take care of all the work with phenomenal speed and efficiency. Although the whole brain is interconnected, specific areas have specialized functions:
Cerebrum / LARGEST:
Integrates sensory information and determines physiological response
Contains the corpus callous that connects and bridges communication flow between the left and right hemisphere
Comprises frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes
Brain Stem / OLDEST, MOST PRIMITIVE:
Responsible for automatic and involuntary functions for survival (e.g., reflexes, alertness, balance, consciousness, cardiac, respiratory, sleep patterns, breathing, swallowing, blood pressure, etc)
Cerebellum / MOTOR CONTROL:
Maintains posture, balance, and equilibrium
Coordinates voluntary muscle, motor precision, and movement
Limbic System: EMOTIONAL & REACTING:
Repeats, motivates, and reinforces pleasure or avoidance behavior patterns by remembering and combining emotional states with physical sensations.
Temporal Lobe / ASSOCIATION:
Makes sense of auditory information
Understands and produces speech
Forms long-term memories
Occipital Lobe / VISUAL:
Interprets important aspects of vision such as perception, color, reading comprehension, and depth perception.
Parietal Lobe / PERCEPTION:
Integrates sensory input (e.g., smell, pressure, pain, touch, and temperature)
Important for visual, body, kinesthetic, and spatial orientation, perception, and navigation
Frontal Cortex / EXECUTIVE THINKING:
Most intelligent portion involving creative, complex, cognitive processing, logic, and decision making. Regulates voluntary motor activities.
The brain controls everything within the body and is making ‘brainwaves’ in another domain…, forensic science. Whether inside or outside a court of law, the brain swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. “The brain never lies,” neuroscientist Dr. Lawrence Farwell. In criminal cases, investigators want to know the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the crime. Specifically, the three main questions are:
Who is involved and how?
What do they know?
Are the accused innocent or guilty as charged?
Neuroscientists look inside the brain for answers. Is it possible to tap into the secrets of the brain if guilty subjects do not want to talk? According to neuroscientist Dr. Lawrence Farwell, the answer is ‘yes.’ Farwell’s (2014, 2001) brain fingerprinting offers an objective non-invasive method that detects whether or not individuals have concealed, crime-related, information stored in their brains. Brain fingerprinting is making an imprint in, and an impact on, forensic science. According to Farwell:
“When the brain processes information, neurons fire electrochemically and that results in electrical patterns at the scalp. So, you can determine by measuring the brainwave patterns at the scalp what information processing is going on in the brain.”
During brain fingerprinting testing, the subject wears a sensor-headband that records brain wave electroencephalograph (EEG) signals while viewing words, phrases, or pictures flashed briefly (about 3/10 of a second) on a computer screen. A combination of irrelevant, relevant, and incriminating stimuli are mixed into the testing sequence and are arranged into the following three categories:
1. IRRELEVANT / CONTROL: Non-incriminating, inaccurate, yet plausible information that is unknown to the subject. When irrelevant stimuli are presented, the subject’s brain will show neutral brainwave patterns because the unfamiliar information holds minimal meaning or importance.
2. TARGETS / CONTROL: Non-incriminating relevant information that the subject knows about already or is made aware of before brain fingerprinting testing starts. Once target stimuli are recognized, the subject’s brain will produce involuntary ‘Aha!’ P300 MERMER responses (memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic response) because the information was already registered and stored in the brain.
3. PROBES / Determining P300-MERMER: Incriminating and relevant stimuli from the crime known only by guilty perpetrator(s), other people involved in the crime, and investigators involved in the case. The investigators are trying to find out whether the subject knows (or does not know) the incriminating relevant stimuli. The subject may deny knowing the details of the crime, but the brain will tell the truth.
INNOCENT subjects have no involvement in the crime and, therefore, have no stored memories of PROBE information. Presentation of PROBE stimuli will have irrelevant and meaningless effects and will not produce P300-MERMER brainwave responses.
GUILTY subjects and those who have knowledge of the crime will recognize incriminating Probe information and activate various areas of the brain (e.g., hippocampus, parietal cortex, septal area) simultaneously to produce P300-MERMER brainwave patterns.
Next, brain fingerprinting data are factored into mathematical algorithms and statistical analysis to confirm the presence or absence of crime-related information in a subject’s brain memory with computed statistical confidence. Beyond the subject’s control, involuntary P300-MERMER brainwaves will reveal the answers from the memory banks of the brain in context with the crime information. Farwell’s brain fingerprinting provides breakthrough forensic evidence in criminal cases, law enforcement, and government counter-terrorist efforts in order to:
Discover the truth
Bring criminals to justice
Free innocent people who are falsely accused or convicted
Finding the truth motivates Janette Ghedotte of Accurate Body Language and Dr. Lawrence Farwell because,“Discovering the TRUTH is the KEY to justice.” Nonverbal reactions are faster and more credible than the verbal articulation of words. Words may lie and deny, but the brain and the body tell the truth. Trust the brain because from head to toes, the body always shows the truth.
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Janette Ghedotte, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Truth & Deception Detection Expert Janette Ghedotte is a MA LLP Clinical Psychologist, Founder, and CEO of Accurate Body Language.
Accurate Body Language is the KEY to cracking the code, unlocking the vault of nonverbal communication, and revealing the secrets of human interaction.
With over 20 years of corporate business, marketing research, advertising & strategic brand positioning, and clinical psychology experience, Janette specializes in understanding the complexities of human behavior, interpersonal relationships, and verbal, and nonverbal body language communication.
REFERENCES:
Farwell, L. A., & Smith, S. S. (2001). Using brain MERMER testing to detect knowledge despite efforts to conceal. Journal of Forensic Science, 46(1), 135-143. Retrieved on 08/07/16 from http://www.brainwavescience.com/Farwell_Smith_Journal_of_Forensic_Sciences_Brain_Fingerprinting.pdf.
Farwell, L. A. (2014). “Brain fingerprinting: Detection of concealed information” in Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science, eds A. Jamieson and A. A. Morenssens. Chichester, England: John Wiley. Retrieved on 08/21/18 from http://www.larryfarwell.com/pdf/Dr-Lawrence-Farwell-Brain-Fingerprinting-Detection-of-Concealed-Information-Wiley-Encyclopedia-of-Forensic-Science-Dr-Larry-Farwell.pdf.
