Polling puzzle: how response times may explain election surprise

After the shock general election vote, pollsters are looking to psychology to find out why the predictions were unreliable

In their mission to find out what went wrong in the general election in May, pollsters have been staring deeply into some unlikely places - including the brain.

Martin Boon of ICM Unlimited has been talking to neuroscientists to uncover the telltale signs when respondents' answers aren't what they seem. "Brain science has come a long way since the days of crude lie detectors, which would look out for a little pick-up in pulse. It is now possible to put probes on the skulls of a respondent as they watch a speech, or a leaders' debate, and gain direct insights into the emotional response," says Boon.