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Brainprint: Identifying Unique Features of Neural Activity with Machine Learning

  • Maria Ruiz-Blondet
  • , Negin Khalifian
  • , Blair C. Armstrong
  • , Zhanpeng Jin
  • , Kenneth J. Kurtz
  • , Sarah Laszlo
  • Department of Bioengineering
  • Department of Psychology
  • BCBL – Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Can a person be identified uniquely by some feature of their neural activity, as they can be by fingerprints? If so, 1) what would those features be like and 2) are existing computational methods sufficient to extract them? Here, we explore these questions by coordinating psychophysiological and machine learning approaches. We begin with the proposition that one unique feature of individual cognition is the detailed network of concepts, and relationships between concepts, that are present in each individual's semantic memory. We then demonstrate that we are able to accurately classify individual unlabeled brain activity-in the form of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) elicited during a task that probes semantic memory-to the individual it belongs to with several pattern classifiers. These results demonstrate that it is possible to identify individuals on the basis of unique features of their brain activity. Biometric applications are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2014
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages827-832
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196708
StatePublished - 2014
Event36th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2014 - Quebec City, Canada
Duration: Jul 23 2014Jul 26 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2014

Conference

Conference36th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2014
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityQuebec City
Period07/23/1407/26/14

Keywords

  • Biometrics
  • Event-Related Potentials
  • Individual Differences
  • Machine Learning

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