Getting to the Truth: What is brain mapping and why it might be conducted on Aftab Poonawala?

Aftab Poonawala dodged the polygraph test. His narco-analysis test is likely to begin today. Investigators have said over and over again that he has shown no remorse for allegedly murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and then hacking her body into pieces. And to build a watertight case, especially if the results of polygraph and narco analysis are inconclusive, they are considering brain mapping.

What is brain mapping?

The Society for Brain Mapping & Therapeutics, a non-profit biomedical association, defines it as “the study of the anatomy and function of the brain and spinal cord through the use of imaging, immunohistochemistry, molecular and optogenetics, stem cell and cellular biology, engineering, neurophysiology and nanotechnology”.

Neuroimaging can be considered part of brain mapping. Brain mapping can be conceived as a higher form of neuroimaging, producing brain images supplemented by the result of additional (imaging or non-imaging) data processing or analysis, such as maps projecting (measures of) behaviour onto brain regions, it says.

Also read: Caring man, didn’t appear scared: How Aftab Poonawala’s new girlfriend described him

How is it used to detect crimes?

The scientific method has been used to bring out the truth and identify perpetrators of crimes and clear the innocent by measuring electrical brain signals. It involves conducting a test also known as the P300 waves test or brain fingerprinting to determine if a person is acquainted with a certain piece of information by measuring brain activity in response to selected stimuli.

When a subject is shown an image or words related to the case, a P300 wave is produced. It is called so because the wave is generated 300 milliseconds after the images are shown.

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The person being questioned is presented with statements, images and occurrences related to the case. P300 wave is formed if the person has viewed them. The subject is not asked any questions during the test.

This test was patented by Dr Lawrence Farwell, the American inventor of brain fingerprinting and the first brain-computer interface.

How is the test conducted?

The brain map also known as a neuro map is used to evaluate one’s brainwaves. It captures a window of brain activity, analyses the data, and creates a visual representation of each lobe of the brain and each specific brain wave, according to a report in News18.

While conducting a test, a subject is made to wear a headband fitted with sensors that measure the electrical responses of the brain to various aspects of the case. A brain fingerprinting device that uses an electroencephalogram is deployed to study the electrical behaviour of the brain, which includes the person’s experience of a crime and involvement in it.

The brain-mapping test doesn’t need any chemicals or drugs to be injected into an individual as compared to the narco test. It is a completely non-evasive procedure.

However, the police cannot conduct this investigation of their will. Permission from the court and the accused are needed. The test is conducted in the presence of experts.

In 2010, the Supreme Court has declared that narco-analysis, brain mapping, and polygraphs are illegal without the subject’s explicit consent. Unless a person voluntarily submits to them, these methods violate the right against self-incrimination provided in Article 20(3) and the right to privacy.

In 2013, a Delhi court did not permit the police to conduct the test on Abdul Karim Tunda after the arrested top Lashkar-e-Taiba bomb expert refused to give his consent for it citing his old age and health problems.

How accurate is the test?

Brain-mapping technique has been 99 per cent accurate, say experts. It has been used in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Investigating Agency.

Brain fingerprinting has been used successfully to help to bring a serial killer to justice and to exonerate a man falsely convicted and imprisoned for 23 years for murder, according to Dr Farwell’s website.

When has brain mapping been used in India?

Brain mapping test has been conducted on gangster Abu Salem and Abdul Karim Telgi, who was behind the stamp paper scam. Rahul Mahajan, son of murdered Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, was also subjected to the test to determine if he had taken narcotics.

Moninder Singh Pandher and his accomplice Surendra Kohli, accused and convicted in the infamous Nithari serial killings, also underwent brain-mapping tests.

In 2019, seven years after a woman, Shakuntala Kumar, killed her husband with the help of her lover, Kamal Singla, in Rajasthan’s Alwar, the accused were nailed by brain-mapping. The duo got away with multiple rounds of interrogation and came out clean in the lie detector test.

How different is brain mapping from other “truth technologies”?

The narco test involves a controlled administration of intravenous hypnotic medications called truth drugs on a suspect to procure vital information.

In a polygraph or lie-detector test, an instrument is used to record physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration and breathing rhythms and skin conductivity while a suspect is being questioned.

Brain mapping is a comprehensive analysis of brainwave frequency bandwidths.

A study by the University of Pennsylvania in the United States found that brain scans can spot lies better than polygraph tests. When it comes to lying, our brains are much more likely to give us away than sweaty palms or spikes in heart rate, it found.

It is why the Delhi Police are likely to opt for brain mapping from Aftab. Police may reportedly move court to carry out brain mapping of the accused.

During the polygraph test, police found several discrepancies in his statement’s regarding the weapons used to chop up Shraddha’s body. He remained silent when asked about the relationship and if he was abusive.

The narco test is expected to focus on the disposal of weapons and the victim’s mobile phone.

With inputs from agencies

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