“(…) As you might guess, lying is a highly intellectual activity that involves a large number of brain regions involved in high-level reasoning,” writes Sylvia Chocron, Lead Research Fellow at the French National Research Center, Fellow of the Perception Psychology Laboratory at the University of Paris Descartes, in the pages of Le Monde.
“The one who lies must first …
… make a decision to hide or falsify truthful information, and then fabricate a false version of reality that he will defend and spread. Then he must make sure that everyone believes in his story, while remembering his version of the facts and staying alert so as not to contradict himself. It is safe to say that all these processes consume a lot of energy and mental reserve, with the possible exception of professional liars who have automated all these mechanisms in order to increase their efficiency,”the article says.
“At the cerebral level, these actions are performed by the prefrontal cortex, known for its involvement in complex cognitive processes. As shown by Maxim Kireev and his colleagues at St. Petersburg University in 2017, it is now possible to track how different areas of the brain are activated and interact with each other in accordance with the psychological context. These authors used a new method of functional magnetic resonance imaging - fMRI analysis to study how brain connectivity changes when a subject lies or when he uses manipulative behavior in relation to the conditions when he speaks the truth. Apparently, during a lie in the left hemisphere, a connection is established between the medial frontal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus. The interactions between these two brain regions may reflect competition to choose whether to speak false or true. As for manipulative behavior, it causes an increase in connectivity between the left medial frontal gyrus and the right temporo-parietal junction, an area that allows us to put ourselves in the place of another person. This means that when the subject manipulates us, he really gets into our point of view to be more effective! " - the expert explains.to be more efficient! " - the expert explains.to be more efficient! " - the expert explains.
“Ultimately, the liar often begins to believe in his own deception and convince himself and even us that he is telling the truth. But then again, functional neuroimaging can lift the veil on this double lie: for others and for yourself! J. Yu and colleagues at the University of Hong Kong recently pondered the potential for functional MRI to differentiate brain activity during deception and false memory. These two experimental situations activate the left frontal gyrus, but only the lying situation also activates the network of regions in both hemispheres: the right superior temporal gyrus, the right insula, the left parietal lobe, and the right superior frontal gyrus. Fortunately for true liars, there is nothing to suggest that this technique is capable of detecting lies in everyday life,”says Shokron.