International Law

How Reliable is Neuroimaging?

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Good discussion about neuroimaging measures and their reliability at Mind Hacks.

"One thing is abundantly clear: fMRI is an effective research tool that has opened broad new horizons of investigation to scientists around the world.

However, the results from fMRI research may be somewhat less reliable than many researchers implicitly believe. While it may be frustrating to know that fMRI results are not perfectly replicable, it is beneficial to take a longer-term view regarding the scientific impact of these studies.

In neuroimaging, as in other scientific fields, errors will be made and some results will not replicate. Still, over time some measure of truth will accrue. This chapter is not intended to be an accusation against fMRI as a method.

Quite the contrary, it is meant to increase the understanding of how much each fMRI result can contribute to scientific knowledge. "

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on March 08, 2010 (boomark / email).