Research: MRI can detect a lie

CHICAGO – Because lying is more work for the brain than telling the truth, scanning the organ that holds our darkest secrets could be the ultimate way to separate fact from fiction, researchers said Monday.

Using brain-scan technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers said, they were able to determine when individuals were not telling the truth as well as with a conventional polygraph. On Monday, researchers presented results of their first study at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.