A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Stout is exploring the brain science behind a lie.

Two students from the school and two students from the University of South Carolina-Aiken took part in a three-week project this summer to set up a lie detection study for the coming school year. Led by UW-Stout psychology professor Desiree Budd, the study might provide data for a more reliable lie detector.

"Law enforcement is definitely interested in this kind of research," Budd said.

Polygraphs, the lie detectors used by law enforcement, measure physiological reactions such as heart rate or blood pressure, which can indicate when a person is lying. But the tests aren't always effective.

"Because the physiology really relies on arousal, if you aren't concerned about your lie and you don't think (a device) can detect lies, it may not be able to," Budd said.

The UW-Stout study differs by using a net of electrodes with the idea that the device will pick up a specific brain signal that can indicate a lie. There's research showing that reading brain activity can be more reliable than traditional lie detectors, but the extent of reliability is up for debate, Budd said.

The testing works by looking for a specific brain signal that appears when a subject is shown something they recognize. If someone is shown a crime scene, for instance, and their brain produces the signal, it may indicate the subject took part in the crime or at least was a witness, Budd said.

This semester, students at UW-Stout and USC-Aiken are expected to test the method on about two dozen subjects -- some of whom have raised their hands to have their lying abilities tested.

"I have several friends that I work with ... who want to sign up to be subjects because they're so excited," said Brettina Davis, a senior studying psychology at UW-Stout and one of the students taking part in the study.

The data will be analyzed spring semester. Where the study, which was funded by a $400,000 National Science Foundation grant, will go from there is anyone's guess.

"The direction that we're taking it, if it pans out like we think it will, should provide an opportunity for lots of additional research," said Daniel Comstock, the other UW-Stout student who took part in the project this summer.

"With any good experiment or research, it ends up giving you just as many questions, if not more, than you've answered."

The study will be looking at the brain activity used in different kinds of lies.

Subjects will claim to have an object that they don't have and also claim to not have an object they do have, and the testers will compare the brain signals detected under the two scenarios.

"With the idea being that different types of lies ... may use different cognitive systems," Budd said.

Her husband, independent researcher Michael Donnelly, is also part of the study. Donnelly says that while it's a long shot that the study will turn into a usable technique for detecting deception, it could yield interesting results.

"There's quite a lot of evidence, I think, that your brain does need to do different things to get you to an affirmation verses a denial, and so it stands to reason that a false affirmation and a false denial are also distinct from each other," he said.

"That's where we're going with this, and we're very excited about it."

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121. Follow him at twitter.com/ andyrathbun.