IssuesinFMRI.ca

Although fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is currently our most promising tool for investigating the mind/brain relationship, critics of this technology argue that its popularity surpasses its informative value. Brain imaging has been likened to a form of high-tech phrenology that relies on an outmoded “localizationist” model of the mind/brain. Critics of this technology identify methodological inconsistencies in the ways that fMRI data are represented and analyzed. Likewise, fMRI researchers have been accused of systematically over-interpreting their results. There appears to be a lack of consensus about how fMRI data should be analyzed and what exactly this data can tell us.

These issues are becoming increasingly significant as the popularity of fMRI technology continues to explode. fMRI is now used in a variety of contexts that have legal, medical and social significance including lie detection, the study of psychological disorders and the exploration of moral reasoning. As long as fMRI data remains easier to collect than it is to interpret, this technology has the potential to bring more confusion than insight to the disciplines in which it is employed.

The aim of this workshop is to identify and discuss the key theoretical and methodological questions surrounding the interpretation of fMRI data. For example, does fMRI necessarily assume a localizationist model of the mind/brain? Are there alternatives to this perspective? How is fMRI data represented and analyzed and is it possible to “lie” with fMRI? What are the responsibilities associated with the presentation of fMRI results, both to the public and the scientific communities, given the limitations in this field of research?