While functional MRI (fMRI) has been used over the past 20 years to explore brain activity, some scientists are questioning whether the modality has actually accumulated much knowledge about cognitive processes.
The opinions were delivered in a special section of 12 articles in the January issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
"Despite the many new methods and results derived from fMRI research, some have argued that fMRI has done very little to advance knowledge about cognition and, in particular, has done little to advance theories about cognitive processes," wrote Mara Mather, Nancy Kanwisher, and John Cacioppo, editors of the special section.
Some of the authors argue that fMRI has fundamentally changed the way that researchers think about the aging mind. fMRI may also provide a more direct way of measuring pain, according to researchers Tor Wager and Lauren Atlas. Still others discuss how fMRI has shed light on whether cognitive operations are modular or distributed across domains.
In their concluding commentary, Mather, Cacioppo, and Kanwisher argue that fMRI does provide unique insights into our understanding of cognition; however, as powerful as it is, there are some questions fMRI will never answer. The best approach integrates a wide array of methods, they noted.
