brain fingerprinting

American  

[breyn fing-ger-prin-ting] / ˈbreɪn ˌfɪŋ gər prɪn tɪŋ /

noun

1. a technology for determining whether specific knowledge or information is stored in a person's brain, by showing the person certain words or pictures and measuring brain-wave response.

   Brain fingerprinting proved that the suspect recognized the murder victim.

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brain fingerprinting British  

noun

1. a technique in which sensors worn on the head are used to measure the involuntary brain activity of someone in response to certain images or pieces of evidence pertaining to a crime

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Other Word Forms

• brain fingerprint noun

Etymology

Origin of brain fingerprinting

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

“These people were already on watch lists,” Larry Farwell, the inventor of brain fingerprinting, told me.

From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2019

“Those whose status or finances depend on the old ways of doing things” will always oppose scientific progress, he says, and brain fingerprinting is no exception to this rule.

From Slate • Jan. 17, 2017

Human memory may be imperfect and limited, Farwell conceded in that paper, but to the extent that any reliable information might be hidden there, brain fingerprinting will find it.

From Slate • Jan. 17, 2017

The doctor's name was Lawrence Farwell, and he was promoting a next-generation tool called brain fingerprinting.

From The Verge • Feb. 2, 2015

Result: a new forensic technology he calls brain fingerprinting.

From Time Magazine Archive