Neural correlates of feigned memory impairment

Abstract

While initial neuroimaging studies have provisionally identified activation in the prefrontal (including the anterior cingulate) and parietal regions during lying, the robustness of this neuroanatomical pattern of activation across forms of stimuli, genders, and mother tongues remains to be demonstrated. In this paper we report the results of three studies designed to test the reproducibility of the brain activation previously observed during feigned memory impairment. A total of twenty-nine right-handed participants, divided into three cohorts, participated in three different studies of feigned memory impairment. Findings indicate that bilateral activation of prefrontal and parietal regions was invariant across stimulus types, genders, and mother tongues, suggesting the general importance of these regions during malingering and possibly deception in general. In conjunction with earlier imaging findings, these three studies suggest that the prefrontal parietal network provides a robust neuroanatomical foundation upon which future dissimulation research may build. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.