A team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a machine-learning algorithm and an MRI scanner that can identify suicidal thoughts and tendencies by monitoring neural patterns in the left superior medial frontal/anterior cingulate regions of the brain, which control thoughts about oneself.
Thirty-four participants were selected for the experiment. Half of the group had experienced suicidal thoughts before and the other half had not, serving as the control group.
Each person went into an MRI machine for thirty minutes as different words such as death, trouble, cruelty, good, praise, and carefree appeared on a screen for three minutes each. Researchers speculated that different words, particularly those that are negative, would be associated with a specific neural pattern.
According to the author of the research, Dr. Just, “People with suicidal thoughts experience different emotions when they think about some of the test concepts. For example, the concept of ‘death’ evoked more shame and more sadness in the group that thought about suicide.
This extra bit of understanding may suggest an avenue to treatment that attempts to change the emotional response to certain concepts.”
The MRI scans were sent to a computer. A machine learning program then analyzed the results and could distinguish between normal brain activity and brain activity in those suffering from suicidal thoughts with a 91 percent accuracy rate.
They could also predict who had actually attempted suicide before versus those who had only thought about it.
While the results are quite promising, there are some drawbacks. The equipment used costs millions of dollars and not everyone can readily or easily receive an MRI scan.
There are also questions surrounding how effective this method would be in detecting suicidal ideation in those who are not willing to admit the thoughts they have due to shame or stigma.
According to the journal Nature Human Behavior, nearly 80 percent of patients who die by suicide deny suicidal ideation in their last contact with a healthcare professional.
Dr. Just understands this dilemma saying, “If somebody didn’t want others to know what they are thinking, they can certainly block that method … I don’t think we have a way to get at people’s thoughts against their will.”
Other researchers, such as a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto, doubt the validity of the research and question if it can be clinically useful. He stated that while Just was able to identify correlation, it may not be substantial enough to identify causes as well. “There’s a biological basis for every aspect of our mental lives, but the question is whether the biological basis for these things are sufficiently accessible by MRI to really develop a reliable test that you could use in a clinical setting.”
He also pointed out that there was a small number of participants and the study would need to be conducted on a much larger scale.
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Scientists Now Able to Detect Suicidal Thoughts
November 7, 2017
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