Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

his government funding. Langleben has applied for a patent for an fMRI-based
approach, and No Lie MRI, Inc. (www.noliemri.com) is working to commercialize
it. Likewise, Kozel and George have applied for a patent for another fMRI-based
approach and are, in conjunction with Cephos Corp., working to develop and
market it. Despite these start-up efforts, and the attention fMRI has attracted from
the press, its use in detecting deception is clearly still in its infancy. No current
brain imaging test has been shown to diagnose common psychiatric disorders
such as schizophrenia (Williamson, 2002). It therefore is unlikely that a behavior
as complex as deception can currently be “diagnosed” with any of the existing
brain imaging techniques.
Functional Near -Infrared-Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a functional optical
imaging modality that measures changes in the concentration of deoxygenated
and oxygenated hemoglobin during functional brain activation. Brain activation
increases rCBF, which, in turn, increases regional cerebral blood oxygenation.
Oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin exhibit characteristic optical properties
in the visible and near-infrared light range. Because of this, concentration changes
in regional oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin during brain activation
(e.g., while a subject is engaged in a task such as lying) can be measured optically.
This is done by introducing specific wavelengths of light at the scalp. The depth
at which this light can be accurately measured is approximately two centimeters
below the scalp (Villringer and Chance, 1997). The ability to monitor brain
function with fNIRS was demonstrated in 1993 (Hoshi and Tamura, 1993; Kato
et al., 1993).
Two studies have been conducted to date using fNIRS with the GKT/CIT
(Bunce et al., 2005; Izzetoglu et al., 2002). Izzetoglu et al. (2002) found that
the level of hemoglobin oxygenation during the “lie” task was higher than the
level during the “truth” task. Bunce et al. (2005) found that inferior and middle
prefrontal cortical areas were associated with some forms of deliberate deception.
These results corroborate the findings of several fMRI studies of deception (Ganis
et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2002; Loughead et al., 2004; Spence et al., 2001). It should
be noted that there were several limitations to the Bunce et al. fNIRS study. First,
only a small area of the cortex was imaged; thus, the potential activity of other
brain areas is unknown. Second, some precision in measuring rCBF was lost due
to the placement of the optodes.
Potential
fNIRS is a minimally intrusive, portable, affordable system. However, it can
only image cortex, and this is a limitation because fMRI studies have indicated
that areas of the brain below two centimeters from the scalp (such as anterior
cingulate cortex and superior frontal cortex) are active during deception (Ganis
et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2002; Loughead et al., 2004; Spence et al., 2001). Wholehead
fNIRS systems that would allow a greater area of the cortical surface to
be imaged are being developed; however, they are not portable. Given these
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