Scientists have found that every person has a distinct “brain fingerprint,” which could lead experts to precisely determine possible development of mental illness and how a patient will react to medical treatments. Each person has a distinct pattern of brain activity that can allow scientists to identify specific individuals out of a crowd with “near-perfect accuracy” through brain scans, researchers reported on Monday.

Researchers from Yale University in the U.S. analysed the results from MRI scans and found that every person has a different pattern of brain activity that can be compared to a typical fingerprint. The patterns can be used to analyse the differences of the fluid intelligence or the quick thinking and problem-solving abilities of a person.

The researchers demonstrated that every person has a distinct pattern of activity when performing any activity - even just sitting. The team analysed the data from multiple functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, brain scans of 126 participants.

It has also been found that a network in the brain, called frontoparietal, tend to emerge in the most distinctive way. The brain regions were linked with the fluid intelligence.

The prefrontal and parietal lobes are some of the “most recently evolved parts of the brain” and are associated with attention and memory, according to researcher Emily Finn, a graduate student at Yale University.

The researchers said that the brain fingerprint would help experts determine hard-to-predict conditions, especially to see people who are at risk of developing mental illness. The analysis could aid to intervene and prevent a person to have the mental condition.

Finn added that the findings would also be useful to predict or measure a person’s response to drug education programmes or therapies. Better drugs and treatments may soon be developed to treat mental illness by considering the distinct brain patterns of individuals.

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