A Cognitive Fingerprint in Human Random Number Generation

Abstract

Most work in the neurosciences collapses data from multiple subjects to obtain robust statistical results. This research agenda ignores that even in healthy subjects brain structure and function are known to be highly variable. Recently, Finn and colleagues showed that the brain's functional organisation is unique to each individual and can yield human-specific connectome fingerprints. This raises the question whether unique functional brain architecture may reflect a unique implementation of cognitive processes and problem solving - i.e. "Can we identify single individuals based on how they think?". The present study addresses the general question of interindividual differences in the specific context of human random number generation. We analyzed the deployment of recurrent patterns in the pseudorandom sequences to develop an identification scheme based on subject-specific volatility patterns. We demonstrate that individuals can be reliably identified based on how they how they generate randomness patterns alone. We moreover show that this phenomenon is driven by individual preference and inhibition of patterns, together forming a cognitive fingerprint.

Authors 4

1. Marc-André Schulz corresponding Aachen Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Sebastian Baier

   Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology , Christian-Albrecht-University Kiel , Kiel , Germany

   Department of Neurology, Christian-Albrecht-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany

3. Danilo Bzdok

   McGill University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Medicine , McGill University , Montreal , Canada

   Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

4. Karsten Witt

   Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology and Research Center Neurosensory Science , Carl von Ossietzky University , Oldenburg , Germany

   Department of Neurology and Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany