But this latest research shows that the brain is more complex than that simple model. In their analysis of global brain activity, the researchers found that different processing tasks have their own distinct pattern of neural connections stretching across the brain, similar to the fingerprints that distinctively identify each of us.

Rather than being a static pattern, however, the brain is able to arrange and rearrange the connections based on the mental task being undertaken.

'You can't just pinpoint a specific area of the brain, for example, and say that is the area responsible for our concept of self or that part is the source of our morality,' said Hanson.

The findings, based on a study of 130 volunteers, could also pave the way for earlier diagnosis and better treatment of mental disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, by offering a means for identifying very subtle abnormalities in brain activity and synchrony.

These findings are slated for publication in the October issue of Psychological Science.