New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research

New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research

More than forty thousand papers have been published using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to explore the brain. A new analysis of the common methods used in these studies is calling the entire field into question, however. The new study, published open-access in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the methods used in fMRI research can create the illusion of brain activity where there is none—up to 70% of the time. Open Access → Credit: Matthew Glasser, Ph.D., and David Van Essen, Ph.D., Washington University Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become an increasingly popular form of research in neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology over the past twenty-five years. But, as Anders Eklund, the Swedish researcher who discovered the flaw in the fMRI software, points out, “surprisingly, its…


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