When it comes to telling lies it's the stomach not the heart which is the giveaway

Oct 31 2005

According to a new study it is suggested that it is the stomach rather than the heart that offers greater lie detection accuracy.

It seems that when it comes to working out who is lying, changes in gastric physiology are a better indicator than standard polygraph methods in distinguishing between lying and telling the truth.

The study by researchers at the University of Texas study, shows a clear link between the act of lying and a significant increase in gastric arrhythmia.

To test their theory that the gastrointestinal tract is uniquely sensitive to mental stress because of the communication between the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch recruited sixteen healthy volunteers to undergo simultaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) and electrocardiogram (EKG) recordings for three periods.

The researchers found that both lying and truth telling affected cardiac symptoms, while the act of lying was also associated with gastric symptoms.

The EGG showed a significant decrease in the percentage of normal gastric slow waves when the subject was lying that corresponded to a significant increase in the average heart rate during the same situation.

They came to the conclusion that the addition of the EGG to standard polygraph methods would have clear value in improving the accuracy of current lie detectors.

Pankaj Pasricha, MD, University of Texas Medical Branch, says the communication between the big brain and the little brain in the stomach can be complex and merits further study.

The study was presented at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, founded in 1932 to advance the scientific study and medical treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.