ALL IN THE MIND
Something to hide? He can make brain waves tell on you

Dr Mukundan's firm is selling brain fingerprinting software to four
countries now

Swapna Nair

Ahmedabad, July 1: WHEN he was a little boy, he liked to investigate —
breaking down toys and rebuilding them. In his 50s now, Dr C R
Mukundan still hasn't given up investigating: only now, he's probing
secrets hidden deep in an individual's brain.

Dr Mukundan heads Brainex (meaning brain experience), his five-month-
old company that has to its credit a forensic technique called Brain
Electrical Activation Fingerprinting. The technique — used on crime
suspects — stimulates brain waves, analyses them and can help
determine what the person's connection with the case is.

``About Rs 70 lakh have been invested in setting up the company in
Bangalore and a special software has been designed by Assonet
Solutions, Bangalore, for this purpose. Negotiations are on with
clients — mostly government organisations in about four countries —
at present,'' says Mukundan, an ex-professor of neuro psychology who
built up his own lab at NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health
and Neurological Sciences).

Dr Mukundan's forensic technique is a ``slightly modified'' version
of the brain fingerprinting patented by Dr Larry Farwell of th US in
the 70s. Farwell's technique was touted as a major breakthrough in
forensic sciences as it involved ``formulated probes'' (key words,
phrases or pictures) that could stimulate brain waves of the person
under scrutiny.

How did it work? spoken Words and pictures that have some bearing to
the crime being investigated are flashed on to a computer screen.
However, they are buried among other ``irrelevant'' words or
pictures.

So if there's a man suspected to have murdered a man in a yellow
shirt, the words ``yellow shirt'' ``red shirt'' and ``blue shirt''
will be flashed on the screen. The suspect's brain wave patterns will
react in a telling way when he spots the words ``yellow shirt,'' as
it is backed by the ``details of the crime stored in his brain.''

The electronic activity is transferred through the electrode cap worn
by the individual and later analysed. Brain fingerprinting is
extensively used in the US as a tool to exonerate innocent suspects.

Dr Mukundan's technique, however, is different. ``Farwell's technique
is not cent per cent fool-proof since the subject is instructed to
press a particular button for target responses (that which the
subject recognises) and another for all other responses. If he/ she
presses a wrong button or does not press a button at all, an error is
introduced. It does not really work well with audio probes,'' he
says.

Mukundan's technique involves ``recreation of an entire crime scene,
mostly through an auditory stimulus, with all the information
provided by the investigating officers.'' The process takes anywhere
between 10 minutes to one-and-half hour and requires ``no question-
answering or pressing of buttons.''

Retrieval of the data collected also changes from probe to
probe. ``We follow a set of standards for visual and audio probe.
Sometimes you start off collecting information gathered by the
frontal lobe of the brain and then the posterior lobe, sometimes vice-
versa,'' he says.

The technique, however, can't be used on the mentally ill, heavy
alcoholics and ``might fail on a habitual criminal.'' ``But it's so
specific that one can even find out how much money was paid to a
contract killer or who called him up the day before the killing. The
investigating agency then has to find physical evidence and submit it
in court,'' he says.

Dr Mukundan says he's handled about 70 cases in the country, but
refuses to divulge details as ``they are all pending in the court.''

Judicial awareness about the technique is still at ``infancy'' stage
in our country though many courts across the country hve referred
cases to me, he says.

The doctor was at Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), Gandhinagar,
recently to conduct lectures on brain fingerprinting for law
enforcement agencies in the state. ``We are handling about 12 cases
from the State, they've been referred to us by the CBI as well as the
state police,'' he says.

Ask th neuropsychologist on ``the most interesting part of the brain,
and he answers: ``The mysterious frontal lobe. It's responsible for
the desiring appropriateness of an action. It keeps all other areas
of the brain under control but withdraws inhibition depending on
need. That is when crimes are committed on the spur of the moment.''

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