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Dr Geoff Bunn investigates the latest lie-detecting technology with the help of Steven Rose, Emeritus professor of Neuroscience at the Open University, and Geraint Rees, director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. He discovers that the early history of the lie detector features a psychologist, William Marston, who went on to create the comic book character Wonder Woman, and an amateur magician, Leonarde Keeler, who was an inspiration for the comic strip hero, Dick Tracy.

He explores the history of the American obsession with lie detection, aided by Ken Alder, professor of History at North Western University, and Garyn Roberts, biographer of Chester Gould - who created Dick Tracy. He also hears from Bruce Burgess, founder of Polygraphs UK.

Dr Bunn is a senior lecturer in psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the author of The Truth Machine: A Social History of the Lie Detector.

(Image: Pulse meters on a man's fingers used for a lie detector or polygraph test. Credit: Science Photo LIbrary)