Scientists say that telling small lies can lead people into a slippery slope towards bigger lies and dishonest acts.

In this new study, researchers from the University College of London conducted brain scans which showed strong emotions for people who lied during a guessing game. However, this effect was gradually reduced in time as they played longer.

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During experiments, the players were able to tell relatively small lies. However, they got more untrustworthy and deceiving to other players for their advantage.

According to researcher Tali Sharot from the University College London, in life, your small acts of dishonesty can grow over time and become bigger ones with greater consequences.

 Sharot calls this "emotional adaptation." This process explains why a person is lesser and lesser shocked when shown a grotesque image of a mutilated body repeatedly over time. Researchers suggest that this can be linked to a physical process in the brain.

During experiments, 80 participants joined a game to test their honesty. A jar filled with pennies was presented to them to guess how many are inside. They would then pass this information to a partner who saw a poor image of this coin jar.

In two scenarios, some were told that they would be rewarded with cash if both players come to a closer answer. On the other hand, some were told that they would gain money if their partner gets the wrong answer.

The test results revealed that the players were willing to tell small lies. However, their lying eventually escalated during the game.

Researchers monitored the players' brain activity via an MRI scanner, showing that the amygdala (which is a part of the brain linked to emotions) reacted very strongly at first with a lie but was observed to decrease during the game. This reaction was less pronounced when it eventually came to the big lies.

Sharot said that lying for personal gain can produce negative emotions that are supposed to limit the extent to how we lie. However, this brain response continues to fade, and bigger lies are easier to execute, leading to this "slippery slope" of dishonesty and crime.

This new study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.