The neurology of truth and falsehood

Telling the difference between true and false sounds like a relatively straightforward process but a new neuroimaging study by researchers at the universities of Lisbon and Vita-Salute, Milan, has found that, on a neurological level at least, it is surprisingly complex. In the study participants were asked to read a simple sentence and decide whether it was true or false as the researchers gave them an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan. The false statements led to activity in a part of the brain called the right fronto-polar cortex, an area associated with reasoning. The true statements activated regions called the left inferior parietal cortex and the caudate nucleus which deal with analysing language, memory and reward.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617123427.htm