CNS Seminar
Beckman Behavioral Biology B180
The future of fMRI in cognitive neuroscience
Russell Poldrack,
Albert Ray Lang Professor ,
Psychology and (by Courtesy) Computer Science,
Stanford University,
Cognitive neuroscience has witnessed two decades of rapid growth, thanks in large part to the continued development of fMRI methods. In my talk, I will question what this work has told us about brain function, and will propose that cognitive neuroscience needs to change in at least three ways. First, it needs to become broader in order to allow the discovery of selective associations between mental operations/representations and brain activity. Second, it needs to become deeper, in the sense of a much more systematic characterization of individuals. Third, I will discuss the need for a change in research practices that will make the results of cognitive neuroscience more reproducible.