Brain scans may predict "future failure"

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have said non-invasive brain scans, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), reveal vital information about future learning, criminality, health-related behaviours, and response to drug or behavioural treatments.

“If we can use neuroimaging to identify individuals at high risk for future failure, we may be able to help

MIT researcher John Gabrieli

John Gabrieli, who helped lead the research, said that the predictive power of brain imaging could be used to identify those at risk of “future failure” at a much earlier stage.

According to the MIT research team, “with further advances in study designs and analyses, neuromarkers may offer opportunities to personalise educational and clinical practices that lead to better outcomes for people”.

“If we can use neuroimaging to identify individuals at high risk for future failure, we may be able to help those individuals avoid such failure altogether,” Gabrieli said.

Gabrieli also said that via brain imaging data, the likelihood of an adolescent succumbing to alcohol or drug abuse could be examined, for example - though he was quick to point out the potential societal and ethical issues raised by predicting such behaviour in young people.

“We will need to make sure that knowledge of future behaviour is used to personalise educational and medical practices, and not be used to limit support for individuals at higher risk of failure,” Gabrieli said.

Gabrieli’s study, Prediction as a Humanitarian and Pragmatic Contribution from Human Cognitive Neuroscience, tackles issues ranging from cognitive performance and future learning within adults to future response to treatments for those who may suffer from neurological disorders such as depression.

An account of the study can be found here.