Scientists have pioneered a method of monitoring people’s brains and reading their intentions before they act, according to a study.

The researchers used high-resolution brain scans to reveal what a person planned to do in the immediate future. The team of neuroscientists say it is the first time that intentions have been read in this way.

In the study, researchers asked volunteers to decide to add or subtract two numbers, which they were then shown on a screen. Their brains were scanned before the numbers appeared on the screen. The researchers found distinct activities in a marble-sized part of the brain, depending on whether the volunteer was going to add or subtract the numbers.

By using software able to detect tiny differences in brain activity, the scientists accurately predicted the volunteer’s intentions 70 per cent of the time.

Professor Haynes, from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, said that the research should provoke an ethical debate about the use of brain-reading technology.

The research builds on studies that have identified the unique activity in the brain associated with behaviour such as lying and racial prejudice.

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