Functional near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate hemodynamic responses to deception in the prefrontal cortex

Deception involves complex neural processes and correlates in the brain. Functional brain imaging techniques have been used to study and understand brain mechanisms during deception. In this study, we utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate hemodynamic responses to deception in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) at the individual level. The protocol involved a mock theft scenario that was previously used in a functional MRI (fMRI) study of detecting deception. Subjects (N=11) were instructed to steal a ring or a watch and then conceal the item that they stole. Participants then responded to visually presented questions regarding which item they took. While the subjects were answering the questions, their PFC activity was measured using fNIRS. The brain activity associated with deceptive responses demonstrated significant changes in hemoglobin concentrations with respect to the baseline, while the response of truth telling was not statistically different from baseline. The regions of greater activation induced by deception identified by fNIRS were approximately consistent with those reported by the previous fMRI study using a similar protocol. This study demonstrates that fNIRS is a promising new technique to understand hemodynamic and neural correlates of deception and thus to detect deception with the added advantages of being compact, technically easier to implement, and inexpensive compared to functional MRI.