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Predicting Human Errors From Brain Activity

Posted by Soulskill on from the good-with-shock-collars dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Researchers report that brain activity can be used to predict the likelihood of someone making an error about six seconds in advance, with gradual changes starting as much as 30 seconds ahead of time. The team used an imaging machine to scan the brains of a group of volunteers who performed a task in the presence of distracting information. When performing correctly the volunteers' brains showed increased levels of activity in those parts associated with cognitive effort, as would be expected. However, these areas gradually became less active before errors were made and at the same time another set of regions in the brain became more active. These regions are part of a so-called "default mode network" and show increased use when people are resting or asleep [PDF]. While imaging machines are far too big and complex to be used in workplaces to monitor the brain activity of people engaged in important tasks, the team hopes to correlate errors to changes in electrical activity in the brain with electroencephalography (EEG), using electrodes placed on the scalp. If EEG features can be found that correspond to the change in brain activity, then a hat that gives warning of an imminent mistake might one day become reality. We've previously discussed similar studies of brain activity."

6 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. I don't believe it by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've seen some stupid research in my time, but actually believing you can predict errors in advance is like saying you can predict which leaf will fall off of a tree in the next 6 seconds.

  2. I agree by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    The parent post makes a very good point. I agree with him wholeheartedly. You may be able to predict actions, but how can you predict whether an action will be an error?

    Mod parent up!

    1. Re:I agree by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like the error of forgetting to click "Post Anonymously" when making a post agreeing with yourself.

    2. Re:I agree by GeffDE · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Parent makes sense intuitively, but there are parts of the brain that are very sensitive to conflict; the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is one of these.

      If you have ever take part of a Stroop test, your ACC has been activated. In a Stroop test, the word for a color is printed in a different color i.e. the word green is shown in the color red. A participant is asked to say either the word or the color. As the speed of doing these discriminations increases, so do errors; interestingly, cognizance of errors is nearly instantaneous, however. You know that you made an error, even before the neural circuitry committed to speaking the words has finished forming the words.

      The ACC becomes more active in Stroop tests because Stroop tests cause conflicts in two neural circuits. The ACC arbitrates these circuits. Therefore, an increase in ACC activity (which will happen in advance of the error occurring) correlates with an increase in likelihood of mistakes...more in-depth research and some algorithms (I haven't RTFA) means that an error can be predicted, but of course, not with 100% success.

      --
      It has been a nervous year, with people beginning to feel like Christian Scientists with appendicitis.
  3. Put electrodes on your scalp to detect errors? by tg2k · · Score: 4, Funny
    Given what it's supposed to tell about people, let me be the first to dub this device "the asshat".

    And I certainly hope it never hits the market.

  4. an idea... by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 4, Funny

    Will they ever be able to make a hat that lets slashdot users know if they will be modded '+1 funny' vs '-1 flamebait?' 6 seconds before clicking 'submit?'

    --
    -I only code in BASIC.-