New research may allow advertisers to sigh with ease and erase the gap between words and actions.

Emily Falk of the University of California Los Angeles and her colleagues have managed to predict the actions of research participants better than participants can themselves. In their study, the scientists took brain scans of 20 volunteers while reading them information about sunscreen and asking whether they’d use the products during the next week. Surprisingly, only half of the participants were able to correctly predict their future actions. Interpretations of the brain scans found that approximately 75 percent of actual behavior was predicted correctly through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI).

Results of the study could potentially help in shaping new and sharply efficient advertising strategies. For now, the greatest challenge may lie in convincing consumers to have their brains scanned every once in a while…

Read more at Reuters.