Software analysis of MRI results:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10131643-76.html

Funny, current rules talk about lie detectors and mood analysis, but not full-on mind reading.

Holy... shnikes...

O.O

Oh DRECK O.o ..... I think neural interface is more likely than neural inquisition, though.

Well, rules are based on immage analisis not neural activity scansion.

I was looking at playing a technophile character in my group at some stage and as a mental exercise, I began going through tech to see what could replicate the effects of magic.

You may (or may not) be suprised but it seems you can do a LOT with tech.

Mind control/memory wipe? Laes/Laesa, gamma-scopaline + simsense,
Control Machine? Hacker nanites.
Turn To Goo? Cutters.
Incinerate? Surtr.

This is just for starters. In many cases too, the tech is better. Magic just tends to win in cases where ease of use and flexibility is the primary concern.

That said, there's heaps of ways of telling if someone is lying. There's skillsofts that allow bonus dice on the Judge Intentions tests IIRC. Voice Stress Analysers, Emotitoys, etc. Its all too easy to tell if someone is lying even in Shadowrun. Even without magic.

- J.

Each image with a fMRI takes a few minutes in a loud, multiton machine filled with liquid helium. But it's certainly interesting basic research.

SR has understated what is almost certainly doable with drugs in terms of influencing what people do or think. There are various drugs that prevent things being stored in long-term memory (they will get better), there is reasonable evidence that you could use drugs to make someone fall in love, etc.

Have you read the rules in Unwired on Simsense Re-programming? They're pretty much a mundane's version of memory editing. The sky is the limit there, really. Given enough time and a skilled simsense programmer/pscyhologist, nothing is impossible.

- J.

I see no reason why you couldn't turn any sort of SR DNI (be it trodes or a datajack) into a lie detector with the proper program. It's not a common application as most users have little reason to try detect their own lies. But it might be a handy trick for the police, corps, or even a shadowrunner to have in there kit from time to time. Of course, even a DNI lie detector wouldn't be perfect. I would give the program a rating and have the victim resist it with willpower or some such.

As for a more invasive mind-probe, that too should be possible. Cyberwear that does exactly this already exists (invoked memory stimulator). You could probably pull it off with just high-fidelity simsense and what not, but this would be a much more invasive procedure.