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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri) and Phrenology

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Essay Assignment II
Nov. 28th, 2012
Discuss whether the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a new form of “phrenology”. Is it reliable enough to be used as evidence in court?

After fMRI was first introduced, it has been under criticism that it is not hard science. The most common technique, the BOLD (blood oxygen level-dependent) fMRI, measures the increase in regional cerebral blood flow in response to increased metabolism, which is to be caused from heightened activity of neuron firing (Menon & Kim, 1999). Some neurologists believe that this is an indirect way of measuring brain activity, and is not sufficient to support any idea.
By many scientists fMRI is often compared to phrenology, a study that once gained …show more content…

However, the juries should be made aware that fMRI scan is an arbitrarily interpreted output, and contain risks of erroneous conclusions. I believe fMRI will gain stronger grounds in the court later in the future though, with the advance of technology as mentioned above.
Some compare neurologists with fMRI to molecular biologists with light microscopes (Jaffe, 2004), for the reason that the capacity of fMRI is not sufficient for neurological study. It must be taken into account that later light microscopes evolved to electron microscopes, meaning that also fMRI will offer improved spatial and temporal information in the future. Its potential must be acknowledged, and in the meantime there should be efforts to find complementary analysis methods (Hubbard, 2003).
References
Dobbs, D. (2005). Fact or Phrenology? Scientific American Mind, Vol.16, p.24-31.
Jaffe, S. (2004). Fake Method for Research Impartiality (fMRI): behavioral Sciences bid for enhanced status falls short. The Scientist, Vol.18, p.64.
Hughes, V. (2010, March 18). Head Case. Nature, Vol.464, p.340-342.
Fodor, Jerry A. (1983). Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology. MIT Press. p.14-23
Hubbard, E. (2003). A discussion and review of Uttal (2001) The New Phrenology. Cognitive Science Online, Vol.1, p. 22-33.
Menon, R., & Kim, S. (1999). Spatial and temporal limits in cognitive neuroimaging with fMRI.Trends in Cognitive Science, Vol.3, p.

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