Your Brainprint Can Identify You With 100% Accuracy

Like your fingerprint, your thoughts are as unique as you. Scientists at Binghamton University have found a way to measure brainwaves, and they can use those measurements to identify a person with surprising, 100% accuracy. 

CEREBRE Technology

Researchers have named their technology Cognitive Event-RElated Biometric REcognition (CEREBRE). The technology, which they’ve improved upon since their initial findings in 2015, compared the brain activity of different people while they looked at a series of images. In their initial studies, researchers recorded participants’ brainwaves while they read several blocks of text. They showed they were able to identify each person by their brainwaves, but only with about 97%accuracy. 

For this most recent study, researchers replaced the text with pictures. Because everyone experiences a given image slightly differently—pictures being more subjective than words—the brainwaves people generated when looking at them were much more unique. This allowed participants to be identified by their brainwaves at a 100% accuracy rate. 

Importance of Accuracy

Because this technology is so expensive, it’s likely to be used only in areas where high-security clearance is an issue. Fingerprints are excellent identifiers—but they can be copied. A person’s thought patterns would be nearly impossible to replicate. Because the potential uses are currently aimed at security clearance, researchers can’t settle for any measure of inaccuracy. 

While more research is needed in this exciting new area, its implications could be far reaching. Most of us might never have any use for high-security clearance, but there’s a takeaway even for the layperson: No matter who you are, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, your thoughts are what ultimately define you. And someday, they could replace a computer password. 

Other Sources:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925231215004725

https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/videos/1374650052667249/

https://www.seeker.com/biometric-brainprint-is-now-100-percent-accurate-1771248618.html 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4216735/