Brain fingerprinting is a technique developed by Lawrence Farwell that uses electroencephalography (EEG) to detect electrical brain wave patterns that are elicited when a person encounters familiar stimuli. It is based on the finding that the brain generates a unique P300 wave approximately 300 milliseconds after recognizing a familiar stimulus. The technique presents subjects with irrelevant, target, and probe stimuli and measures brain waves to determine if the probes elicit a P300, indicating the subject has knowledge of that information. It has potential applications in criminal investigations, medical diagnosis, counterterrorism, and other fields by objectively detecting what information is stored in a person's brain.

1. BRAIN FINGERPRINTING TECHNOLOGY
 A
presentation
by:
 Atul Sharma

2. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Developed by
 Based on
 Technique
 What is MERMER?
 Procedure
 Types of stimuli used
 Terminologies
 Applications
 Pros and Cons
 Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTION
 Brain Fingerprinting technique is used to
determine scientifically what information is,
or is not stored in a particular brain.

4. DEVELOPED BY
Brain fingerprinting was invented
by Lawrence Farwell.The
hypothesis is that the brain
processes known and relevant
information differently from the
way it processes unknown or
irrelevant information (Farwell &
Donchin 1991).

5. BASED ON
Brain fingerprinting is based on finding
that the brain generates a unique
brain wave pattern when a person
encounters a familiar stimulus.

6. TECHNIQUE
 The technique uses the well known fact that
an electrical signal known as P300 or
MERMER is emitted from an individual's brain
approximately 300 milliseconds after it is
confronted with a stimulus of special
significance.

7. WHAT IS MERMER?
 Memory and Encoding Related Multifaceted
Electroencephalographic Response
 A MERMER is an electric signal which is part
of the brainwave observed in response to
familiar information.
 When the brain recognizes something, then
there is an increase in neurons activity, so
elicit some changes in brain wave signals.

8. IT INCORPORATES THE FOLLOWING
PROCEDURE
The person to be
tested wears a
special headband
with electronic
sensors that
measure
the EEG from
several locations on
the scalp.

9. EEG
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the
measurement of electrical activity produced
by the brain as recorded from electrodes
placed on the scalp.

11. PROCEDURE CONTD.
 In order to calibrate the brain fingerprinting
system, the testee is presented with a series
of irrelevant stimuli, words, and pictures, and
a series of relevant stimuli, words, and
pictures.
 These stimuli are of three types:
>Irrelevant
>Target
>Probe

12. TYPES OF STIMULI USED
 1) "irrelevant" stimuli that are irrelevant to the
investigated situation and to the test subject
 2) "target" stimuli that are relevant to the
investigated situation and are known to the
subject, and
 3) "probe" stimuli that are relevant to the
investigated situation and that the subject denies
knowing. Probes contain information that is known
only to the perpetrator and investigators, and not
to the general public or to an innocent suspect who
was not at the scene of the crime.

13. How Brain Waves are used to
detect guilt?
 A suspect is tested by looking at three kinds
of information represented by different
colored lines:
 Information the suspect is expected
to know. It arises due to target type stimulus.
 Information of the crime that only
the perpetrator would know.This arises due
to probes.
 Irrelevant information.

14. Information regarding the
crime is not known.
In this figure the red and
blue lines are closely
correlated suspect has
knowledge of crime.
RED
BLUE
GREEN
RED
BLUE

15. WHY IS IT CALLED SO?
 Brain Fingerprinting was so named because
like fingerprinting it detects a match between
evidence from the crime scene and evidence
on the brain of the suspect.

16. Continued..
 Actually when brain recognizes something
then there is some changes in the neurons
activity ,due to which there is changes in
brainwave signals .On the basis of these
changes in brain wave signals scientists
determine that a particular information is
present in the subject mind or not .

17. APPLICATIONS
o CounterTerrorism
o Medical Diagnosis
o Criminal Investigation
o Advertising
o SecurityTesting

18. 1.Counter Terrorism
 Aid in determining who has participated in
terrorist acts, directly or indirectly.
 Aid in identifying trained terrorists with the
potential to commit future terrorist acts, even
if they are in a “sleeper” cell and have not
been active for years.
 Help to determine if an individual is in a
leadership role within a terrorist organization

19. 2.Criminal Justice
 A critical task of the criminal justice system is
to determine who has committed a crime.The
key difference between a guilty party and an
innocent suspect is that the perpetrator of the
crime has a record of the crime stored in their
brain, and the innocent suspect does not.
Until the invention of Brain Fingerprinting
testing, there was no scientifically valid way
to detect this fundamental difference.

20. 3.Medical Field
 Brain Fingerprinting‟ is the patented
technology that can measure objectively, for
the first time, how memory and cognitive
functioning of Alzheimer sufferers are
affected by medications.

21. 4.Advertising
 How do we know what information people
retain from a media campaign?There is a new
technology that allows us to measure
scientifically if specific information, like a
product brand, is retained in a person‟s
memory.

22. 5. Security Testing
 Help to identify people who have knowledge
or training in banking, finance or
communications and who are associated with
terrorist teams and acts.

23. Comparison with other
technologies
 Fingerprints and DNA are available in only 1%
of crimes.The brain and the evidence
recorded in it are always there.
 No questions are asked or answers are given
during Brain Fingerprinting.
 Brain Fingerprinting depends only on the
brain information processing, it does not
depend on the emotional response of the
subject.
 Record of 100% accuracy.

24. Limitations
 It does not indicate intent of the crime.
 This technology is a little bit controversial.
 Difficult to distinguish the criminal and a
witness who saw all the criminal activity
happen or was present at the crime scene.
 It can detect what information is stored in the
subject’s brain. It can’t detect how that
information got there.

25. CONCLUSION
Brain Fingerprinting is a revolutionary new
scientific technology for solving crimes,
identifying perpetrators, and exonerating
innocent suspects, with a record of 100%
accuracy in research with US government
agencies, actual criminal cases, and other
applications.The technology fulfills an urgent
need for governments, law enforcement
agencies, corporations, investigators, crime
victims, and falsely accused, innocent
suspects.

26. REFERENCES…
 Dr. Farwell's Brain Fingerprinting website Accessed September 15, 2014.
 KOMOTV News – "Brain Fingerprinting could be breakthrough in law enforcement" Accessed
September 15, 2014
 "Truth and Justice, by the Blip of a Brainwave", The NewYorkTimes, October 9, 2001, by Barnaby J.
Feder. Accessed September 15, 2014.
 ABC-TVGood Morning America: Charles Gibson interviews Dr. Lawrence Farwell "Mind-Reading
TechnologyTests Subject'sGuilt -- Brain-ReadingTechnology Becomes NewTool in Courts," March
9, 2004. Accessed September 15, 2014.
 PBS Special Report on Brain Fingerprinting and InteractiveWebsite. Accessed September 15,
2014.
 “Brain fingerprinting: a comprehensive tutorial review of detection of concealed information with
event-related brain potentials.” Peer-reviewed article by Dr. Larry Farwell in Cognitive
Neurodynamics.Accessed September 15, 2014.
 “Brain fingerprinting field studies comparing P300-MERMER and P300 brainwave responses in the
detection of concealed information.” Peer-reviewed article by Farwell, Richardson, and
Richardson on brain fingerprinting research at the FBI and the CIA, and in detecting real crimes
and bomb makers,published in Cognitive Neurodynamics.Accessed September 15, 2014.
 “Brain fingerprinting classification concealed information test detects US Navy military medical
information with P300.” Peer-reviewed article by Farwell, Richardson, Richardson, and Furedy on
CIA-sponsored brain fingerprinting research at the US Navy published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Accessed May 31, 2015.

28. THANK YOU.