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Home > Your brain > How does your brain work? > What does the autonomic nervous system do? > Can you hide a lie?

How does your brain work?
How can illness affect the brain?
What happens when you’re asleep?
What are your senses?
How do drugs affect your brain?
How does your brain grow?
What is special about human language?
Why is your memory so important?
What are emotions?

Can you hide a lie?

Lie detectors work by recording changes in heart rate, or in the sweatiness of palms - both of these increase when someone is telling a lie. However, a racing heart and sweaty palms may be caused by different reasons, which is why lie detectors are not totally reliable.

Man undergoing a polygraph lie-detector test.