Olm the Water King
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/may/27/brain-scans-flaws-vaughan-bell
Vaughan Bell: the trouble with brain scans
Many of the methods on which brain scan studies are based have been flawed – as one image of a dead salmon proved
Neuroscientists have long been banging their heads on their desks over exaggerated reports of brain scanning studies... They bemoan how people misunderstand the subtleties and draw unwarranted conclusions. But now neuroscientists have had to come to terms with the fact that many of the methods on which brain scan studies are based have been flawed.
...Yarkoni explains that "researchers have a big incentive to come up with exciting new findings", meaning scientists are motivated to "torture" the data and journals are attracted by the media-friendly results.
In this light of this, stories about the discovery of "brain centres" fall flat and efforts to base public policy on brain scans become nothing short of ridiculous. But perhaps the most important problem is not that brain scans can be misleading, but that they are beautiful. Like all other neuroscientists, I find them beguiling. They have us enchanted and we are far from breaking their spell.