Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories

Summary Information

Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, Inc. has developed and patented EEG/P300 based testing systems that determine with extremely high accuracy whether or not specific information is stored in a person’s memory. The test measures individual brain-wave responses to relevant words, pictures or sounds presented by a computer. The measurements are recorded in fractions of a second after the stimulus is presented, before the subject is able to formulate or control a response. In a major milestone for the company, the results of this patented testing methodology have been ruled admissible in court as scientific evidence. The technology has many exciting applications in several very large markets: national security, medical diagnostics, advertising, insurance fraud and in the criminal justice system.

Widespread Media Coverage

In several dramatic law enforcement cases, Dr. Lawrence Farwell, the inventor of Brain Fingerprinting^Ò testing, demonstrated that the technology could profoundly change the criminal justice system by providing a new, scientific method to help identify the guilty and to exonerate the innocent. As a result of these cases, Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories has been featured in major print and broadcast media throughout the world. These include CBS 60 Minutes, Fox News, CBS 48 Hours, ABC World News, CBS Evening News, CNN Headline News, the Discovery Channel, U.S. News and World Report and The New York Times. TIME Magazine recently selected Dr. Farwell for the TIME 100: The Next Wave, the 100 Innovators who may be “the Picassos and Einsteins of the 21st century.” PBS is currently filming a one-hour documentary on the technology for their new series, INNOVATION.

How Brainfingerprinting Testing Works - Criminal Justice System

The fundamental difference between the perpetrator of a crime and an innocent person is that the perpetrator, having committed the crime, has the details of the crime stored in his memory, and the innocent suspect does not. This is what Brainfingerprinting testing detects scientifically, the presence or absence of specific information.

In a Brainfingerprinting test, relevant words, pictures or sounds are presented to a subject by a computer in a series with irrelevant and control stimuli. The brainwave responses to these stimuli are measured using a patented headband equipped with EEG sensors. The data is then analyzed to determine if the relevant information is present in the subject’s memory. A specific, measurable brain response known as a P300, is emitted by the brain of a subject who has the relevant information stored in his brain, but not by a subject who does not have this record in his brain.

The P300 response has been extensively researched for more than 30 years. This research has been widely published in leading professional journals and the P300 response has gained broad acceptance in the scientific field of psychophysiology. In his research on the P300 response, Dr. Farwell discovered that the P300 was one aspect of a larger brain-wave response that he named and patented, a MERMER^Ò (memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic response). The discovery of the MERMER allows the results gained through P300 testing to be substantially more accurate. Since the inclusion of the MERMER in the brain-wave analysis algorithm, Brainfingerprinting has made a definitive determination in every case, with more than 200 subjects having been tested.

Helps to Exonerate the Innocent   

Terry Harrington was convicted of murder in 1978 in Iowa and was serving a life sentence in prison. In 2000 Dr. Farwell conducted a Brainfingerprinting test on Mr. Harrington, which showed that the record stored in Harrington’s brain did not match the crime scene and did match his alibi. Confronted with the Brainfingerprinting evidence, the only alleged witness to the crime recanted. In a sworn statement admitted as evidence, Harrington’s accuser confessed that he had lied in the original trial to avoid being prosecuted for the crime himself. Harrington appealed for a new trial based on the Brainfingerprinting results and on the additional evidence discovered during the development of the test. On February 26, 2003 the Iowa Supreme Court has reversed the conviction of Terry Harrington and ordered a new trial, capping a 24-year-quest for justice by the Omaha, Nebraska man. In October of 2003 the State of Iowa elected not to retry him. Mr. Harrington is now a free man.

Ruled Admissible in Court

In November 2000, an Iowa District Court held a hearing on Terry Harrington’s petition for post conviction relief. This hearing included an eight-hour session on the admissibility of the Brainfingerprinting test report. In March 2001, District Judge Timothy O’Grady ruled that Brainfingerprinting testing met the legal Daubert Standard for admissibility in court as scientific evidence. In their ruling on Harrington, the Iowa Supreme Court left undisturbed the law of the case establishing the admissibility of the Brainfingerprinting evidence.

Helps to Catch a Serial Killer

Macon County, Missouri Sheriff Robert Dawson engaged Dr. Farwell to conduct a Brainfingerprinting test on J. B. Grinder, who had been a suspect in an unsolved murder case for 15 years. The test results showed that the record stored in his brain matched critical details of the crime scene that only the perpetrator would know. Faced with an almost certain conviction and a probable death sentence, Grinder pled guilty in exchange for life in prison without the possibility parole. He then also confessed to the previously unsolved murders of three other women.

National Security Applications     

In a terrorist act, evidence such as fingerprints or DNA may not be available, but the brain of the perpetrator is always there — planning, executing, and recording the crime. There are memories of the crime stored in the brain of the perpetrator and in the brains of those who helped plan the crime. Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories technology can detect these records stored in the brain and help identify trained terrorists before they strike, including those that are in long-term “sleeper” cells. The technology will also be used to improve security in areas like VISA applications and the protection of classified information.

Medical Diagnostics

The incidence of Alzheimer’s is growing rapidly throughout the world. In the United States alone over 4 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This number is expected to grow to 11 million in the next 10 years. There is a critical need for a technology that enables early diagnosis simply and economically and that can also accurately measure the effectiveness of treatments. Research has now demonstrated that the P300 brainwave is extremely effective at identifying the onset of Alzheimer's. MERMER technology, developed and patented by Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, includes the P300 brainwave and extends it, providing a significantly more sensitive measurement than the P300 alone. Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories is now developing diagnostic and monitoring systems for Alzheimer’s using this exciting new technology that will be very cost effective and accurate. A patient diagnosed with Alzheimer's will undergo a series of tests over a period of time to measure their progress and response to various treatments. The tests will be simple, non-intrusive and can be administered in a medical center or in a local physician’s office. The systems being developed by Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories will provide early identification Alzheimer's and be able to detect changes in cognitive functioning on a short-term basis. This will allow physicians to more effectively evaluate the progress of individual patients and adjust treatments much more rapidly that what is possible today, improving the quality of care and the quality of life for the patients.  There is also a high level of interest with Pharmaceutical firms who want to determine more accurately the effectiveness of their Alzheimer's medications in development. This will allow them to reduce research costs and potentially get new medications to market more quickly. 

Additional Applications

In advertising, Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories will offer significant advances in measuring campaign and media effectiveness. Most advertising programs today are evaluated subjectively using focus groups. We will be able to offer significantly more advanced, scientific methods to help determine the effectiveness of campaigns and be very cost competitive with current methodologies. This technology will be able to help determine what information is actually retained in memory by individuals. For example, in a branding campaign do people remember the brand, the product, etc. and how do the results vary with demographics? We will also be able to measure the comparative effectiveness of multiple media types.

In the insurance industry, Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories will be able to help reduce the incidence of insurance fraud by determining if an individual has knowledge of fraudulent or criminal acts. The same type of testing can help to determine if an individual has specific knowledge related to computer crimes where there is typically no witness or physical evidence.

Research and Publications

The initial research on this technology was funded by contracts with the CIA and the FBI for over $1 million. In one study the testing detected which people in a group were FBI agents by measuring brain responses to words and phrases that only FBI agents would recognize. In the research funded by the CIA, the technology tested whether or not people had knowledge of crimes or espionage acts. Dr. Farwell has published papers on Brainfingerprinting testing in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals, including a publication co-authored with FBI scientist Sharon Smith in the Journal of Forensic Sciences (January 2001). In these studies, Brainfingerprinting technology provided the correct determination for every individual tested.

Patents

Three comprehensive patents have been issued on Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories technology. Both the Brainfingerprinting test methodology and the MERMER brain response are patented. The patents cover technology inventions, equipment and processes to utilize the discoveries. Two additional applications have been submitted for extensions of the technology and several others are pending submission. The company expects the extensive existing patents and planned additional ones to provide a short and long term, sustainable competitive advantage.

A Scientific Solution to a Timeless Problem

How do we decide who should be convicted for a particular crime? Who is innocent and who should be freed? Who is a trained terrorist and who can safely be granted a visa to enter the United States? Is an Alzheimer’s medication improving a patient’s memory – if so, does it work better for a patient than other treatments? In all of these situations, the task is to determine the facts - accurately. In the past no accurate, scientific procedure has been available to accomplish these goals. This exciting new technology will be used to help make criminal justice systems more fair and efficient, it will help speed medications for Alzheimer’s to market and it will give researchers in advertising a tool to help understand the impact media campaigns.

                                 "Information Absent"                                       "Information Present"

Dr. Farwell Conducting a Brain Fingerprinting Test 

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