THE GREAT DEBATE of 2005

Sponsored by the Neurosciences Institute at Stanford fMRI Colloquium

Is fMRI just a waste of our time?

Can we learn anything useful from functional neuroimaging?

Help us decide at the Great Debate of 2005!!

All members of the imaging and larger scientific community at Stanford are invited to actively partake in a lively discussion about the merits of functional neuroimaging research. This will be an opportunity to meet others in the community and discuss important issues relevant to our research.

Please join us on Wednesday, November 30, in Lucas P-083, from 4:30 – 6 PM. The debate will begin at 4:30, and will be followed by refreshments. Prizes will be awarded to the winners of the debate!

Hope to see you there!

Here are some articles to help get your juices flowing and your appetite whet!

H₀: fMRI is a useful way to spend our time and proceed with research.

Con:

Uttal.pdf – This article is the most damning of fMRI, calling it "a new phrenology in which ill-defined cognitive concepts are erroneously localized to narrowly specified regions of the brain". The author lays out specific arguments to support his case.

Dobbs.pdf – A popular press article in Scientific American which questions the widespread use of fMRI and discusses the "growing controversy over fMRI scans"

Vishton.pdf – A book review of Uttal's book, "The New Phrenology", which succinctly reviews Uttal's arguments against fMRI in the book.

Jaffe.pdf – A very short article against fMRI, calling it a "fake Method for Research Impartiality (fMRI)"

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n19/fodo01_.html – An article asking why we would even care if we could localize specific functions to specific parts of the brain.

Nichols.pdf – This article is about the neurobiology of cognition. There is only a quick mention of fMRI on page C36 (in the first and second column), that is not positive.

Pro:

Heeger.pdf – This article suggests that fMRI does appear to reflect local neuronal activity, and therefore that it can be a valid technique

Kosslyn.pdf – Potential questions that neuroimaging could address; relies heavily on the author's own research

Donaldson.pdf – Discusses mixed designs in fMRI experimental design, and how new techniques like this one indicate that "neuroimaging is in a vibrant and healthy state of development"

Marshall.pdf – Another review of Uttal's book, "The New Phrenology"; however, in this review, the author negates some of Uttal's arguments against fMRI

Tsao.pdf – Here is an abstract from SfN 2005 showing that a discovery made by fMRI in human has been followed up and validated by monkey neurophysiology. One of the great strengths of fMRI is to be able to identify loci of peak response to a novel stimulus class, which can then be probed in more detail by invasive methods. The face area is one such locus, but there are, by now, dozens of others awaiting verification for those sceptical of them. Comment by Christopher Tyler.