Computer program analyzes brain activity

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A computer program developed at a Pittsburgh university can offer limited insights into one's thoughts by analyzing brain activation patterns, researchers say.

Carnegie Mellon University computer science Professor Tom Mitchell , who is working on the computer algorithm project, said by analyzing an individual's brain activity, the program can make very accurate guesses at which word of a selected pair a person is thinking about, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sunday. It can hit correctly up to 90 percent of the time compared with a simple 50-50 guess, the newspaper said.

"Even though we're obviously very different and have had different experiences, so that when you think of a Ford Edsel you probably think of something different than what I think of, " the researcher said, "nevertheless, we're similar enough that these (computer) programs can tell us quite a bit about what we're thinking."

Psychologist Marcel Just, who is also working on the project, told the newspaper the program's use of magnetic resonance imaging to make educated guesses would likely lead to additional thought-recognition efforts in the future.

"Fifty years from now," Just said, "I think it'll be plausible that we'll be able to identify people's thoughts with less cumbersome equipment than an MRI scanner, just the way we identify a person's speech today."