Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that the brain has to work much harder to tell a lie than it does to tell the truth. Dr. Daniel Langleben has been studying this phenomenon using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine to pinpoint which parts of the brain are activated when a person lies. When faced with a question, our brain first needs to process it. Then, “almost by instinct, a liar will first think of the true answer before devising or speaking [a] false answer,” reports The News of Mexico City. “In the brain, you never get something for nothing,” says Langleben. “The process for telling a lie is more complicated than telling the truth, resulting in more neuron activity.” This increased neuron activity shows up on an fMRI like a light bulb. “Even for the smoothest-talker, lying is tough work for the brain,” says the paper.
“Lying Is Tough Work for the Brain”
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that the brain has to work much harder to tell a lie than it does to tell the truth. Dr. Daniel Langleben has been studying this phenomenon using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine to pinpoint which parts of the brain are activated when a person lies. When faced with a question, our brain first needs to process it. Then, “almost by instinct, a liar will first think of the true answer before devising or speaking [a] false answer,” reports The News of Mexico City. “In the brain, you never get something for nothing,” says Langleben. “The process for telling a lie is more complicated than telling the truth, resulting in more neuron activity.” This increased neuron activity shows up on an fMRI like a light bulb. “Even for the smoothest-talker, lying is tough work for the brain,” says the paper.