April 25, 2024
bioethics

Brain scans could replace SATs in 20 years

Mumbai

By 2032, students’ brain characteristics could be the deciding factor in whether they get into the college of their dreams, researcher Prof Richard Heier, of the University of California Irvine, says.

By 2032, students’ brain characteristics could be the deciding factor in whether they get into the college of their dreams, researcher Prof Richard Heier, of the University of California Irvine, says. Haier and his colleagues published a landmark study in 1988 which sparked the creation of a new field — neuro-intelligence which studies intelligence with brain scans.

Haier explains the field at present: “Can it be done today? No. Is it in the realm of possibility based on what we’ve already done? Yes. Some day you will be able to have some kind of brain imaging or multiple kinds of brain imaging to assess the quantity and quality of your gray and white matter, the speed of your information processing in specific brain networks, and the neurochemistry of your neurons. The brain imaging data algorithms that combine all this information could well give an accurate indication of your intelligence and your cognitive strengths and weaknesses—maybe even your vocational talents.”

Haier points out: “The goal of our research is not to replace the SAT with brain imaging. The goal is to understand what it is about brain characteristics that make some people smarter than others. As we learn about brain/intelligence relationships and mechanisms, we might be able to manipulate the brain to substantially increase intelligence using neurochemicals or other means.” He acknowledges there are social policy and political ramifications of using a brain scan instead of the SAT, but that he has faith society will be able resolve them. ~ Business Insider, May 14brain

Brain scans could replace SATs in 20 years
Jared Yee
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brain scans
research
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