Mind and Brain: A Critical Appraisal of Cognitive Neuroscience

by William R. Uttal

The search for mind-brain relationships, with a particular emphasis on distinguishing hyperbole from solid empirical results in brain imaging studies. Cognitive neuroscience explores the relationship between our minds and our brains, most recently by drawing on brain imaging techniques to align neural mechanisms with psychological processes. In Mind and Brain , William Uttal offers a critical review of cognitive neuroscience, examining both its history and modern developments in the field. He pays particular attention to the role of brain imaging--especially functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)--in studying the mind-brain relationship. He argues that, despite the explosive growth of this new mode of research, there has been more hyperbole than critical analysis of what experimental outcomes really mean. With Mind and Brain , Uttal attempts a synoptic synthesis of this substantial body of scientific literature. Uttal considers psychological and behavioral concerns that can help guide the neuroscientific discussion; work done before the advent of imaging systems; and what brain imaging has brought to recent research. Cognitive neuroscience, Uttal argues, is truly both cognitive and neuroscientific. Both approaches are necessary and neither is sufficient to make sense of the greatest scientific issue of how the brain makes the mind.

Genres: Neuroscience, Psychology

497 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2011

Reviews

[Virginia MD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book challenges our current reliance on fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans. In particular it looks critically at the use of fMRI scans as a tool for studying cognition (how people think).

The author concludes that it is premature to abandon other psychological testing methods because fMRI scans suffer from several limitations including poor reproducibility and the fact that since every pixel on a scan represents millions of neurons, they can't represent want is going on at the neuronal level.

This is an academic book aimed at scientists, but its conclusions are relevant to everyone. It is easy to use an fMRI scan to convince people you know more than you do, or to sell and unproven product or treatment. An example of the misuse of fMRI scans is their use in court rooms because just like lie detectors they are notoriously unreliable in that context.

I will be posting an interview of this book's author in the March 2012 edition of the Brain Science Podcast.

[Kai Schreiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to find a contrarian position to standard neuroscientific enthusiasm and dogma. Todays's base metaphor for brain function of a functionally distributed computing system, with distinct and namable modules, is almost guaranteed to turn out to be false, and pointing this out in detail and backed by data and references, is a nice service.

I would have wished for less confusing synopsis, and more inegration and argument, though. The ultimate conclusion - the brain is too complex for our current models - is a bit disappointing, if entirely correct.