JUNE 2008, MUMBAI - Hailed as a breakthrough by some and condemned as being dubious and unethical by others, it is clear that, in India at least, ‘brain-mapping’ is assuming an increasingly important place in the repertoire of investigative tools used by law-enforcement agencies.
And in an unprecedented judgement by a Maharashtra court, it was this test that led to the undoing of Pune-based MBA student Aditi Sharma, who was convicted for killing an ex-lover by feeding him poisoned prasad.
Although many question the veracity of such a method, it is based on sound scientific principles. The suspect under investigation is seated and made to wear a cap with 32 electrodes. Out of these, two are attached to the ear lobes and the remaining 30 placed on different parts of the brain to measure electrical waves.
Unlike the polygraph test or narco-analysis, this non-invasive procedure — technically known as the Brain Electrical Oscillation Profiling (BEOS) test — does not require any verbal responses from the subject. Instead, the probe questions are designed to evoke the memory of the experience that the accused is suspected to have had. Simply put, remembering conceptual and experiential knowledge activate different regions of the brain.
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