WATCHING THE BRAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 195, 26 November 1910, Page 10

WATCHING THE BRAIN.

Moving pictures of a human brain are fast becoming a possibility. According to Dr. Max Baff, a fellow in psychology of Clark University, Boston, the apparatus necessary for such work is now nearing perfection. The discovery is due to experiments that have been concluded by investigators who have com-' bined the X-ray with the cinematograph ,\ and have found that they can take mov-'l ing pictures of the internal organs of the body. Dr. Baff had declared that a scientist in Buenos Ayres is constructing a microscopic attachment for an X-ray apparatus, and that this microscope will magnify to 5000 diameters. In other words, by the application of this device, to the X-ray and cinematograph, the brain cells will appear in action upon the screen, and will be developed to- 5000 times their natural size. "We are to take /moving pictures of the brain in action; it is the next step in scientific development, and it will mean mercy and proper treatment for so-called criminals, justice for selfwilled criminals," said Dr. Baff. "By such pictures, taken at certain intervals, we shall be able to know to a nicety whether or not the child is fitted for the studies he is taking. But more important than this we shall know the capacity of the brain and thereby decide whether or not the individual may profit appreciably by a college training. For example, a person may simulate insanity so well that the keenest observer may be deceived. "But the rush of blood to the brain in real excesses of insanity is altogether different in quantity from the rush of blood occasioned by the mental and physical stTain of acting the part of insanity. Thus, with these magnified Xray moving pictures, the man or woman who enters a defence of insanity for a crime will be subjected to a test that cannot be questioned."