Reading Minds: Brain-Decoding Scientists Move Closer to Discovering the Keys to Unlock the Brain

When you see or think about an object, your brain engages in a unique pattern of activity tied specifically to that object. That's how you know a cat is a cat, and not a dog or a house or a cloud. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other techniques, scientists are not only able to measure those activity patterns but are also deciphering what each pattern means. Essentially, they are beginning to read minds.