lying and the brain

according to a recent study reported by both wired and msn, it's apparently more difficult to lie than to tell the truth. my personal experience is at times contrary to this evidence. sometimes it's much easier to blurt out some untruth than fess up.

researchers should investigate truth vs. lying in situations where the truth would be painful to oneself and/or others. for example, if your friend really does look fat in that dress, it might be easier to just say "no, of course not" instead of making an effort at tact while explaining that yes, thanksgiving did hit a little harder than usual this year. this study also only investigated an actual event - a studying on thoughts, beliefs, and feelings would turn up interesting results too - is it more difficult to lie about those things?

these reports are interesting for a number of other reasons. traditional lie detector tests are fairly easy to fake if you practice long enough, since they measure things you can train yourself to control, such as skin temperature and heart rate. you cannot, however, train your brain to utilize a different region - or at least we haven't found out how (unless one area is damaged, then a different area may be able to take over, but that's a different story). i wonder the impact of this kind of thing on false memories - what region would they "light up"?

Labels: neuroscience