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For decades, scientists have used an imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to chronicle the brain in action. But a study in the January 22nd issue of Nature suggests that fMRI might show more than what the brain is doing—it might reveal what the brain’s about to do.
FMRI studies assume that blood flow in the brain correlates with neuronal activity. Active brain cells need nutrients, which are brought to the cells by freshly oxygenated blood. But in the new study, scientists found that fMRI also detects increased blood flow in brain regions that aren’t active—but that may be in the near future.
The researchers trained monkeys to perform a specific visual task. And they found that, even when the animals were sitting in the dark waiting for the test to begin, fMRI nevertheless revealed an increased blood flow to the monkeys’ visual cortex.
The study suggests that fMRI data may be a lot more interesting than we thought. Scientists may be looking at their imaging data in a way that’s too simplistic. And fMRI may not be measuring exactly what we thought it did. What will they think of next? Maybe fMRI can tell.
—Karen Hopkin
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8 Comments
Add CommentWell, better said, does the brain see the future? :)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOr, can the brain be predicted? According to recent research articles, it is. :)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI tend to disagree with the assertion that fMRI in this study was actually purporting future brain activity. I think the authors are grossly misrepresenting, although not intentionally, the data. Just because the monkeys were sitting in the dark does not mean that the visual cortex lay dormant. Think about every night when you are about to go to sleep. Flip the light off, crawl into bed, and your eyes try their hardest to adjust to the blackness--your visual cortex was probably even working harder than usual to parse images in the absence of light. It will be interesting to read their defense of this phenomena in their article. I am highly suspect that fMRI can "see the future" as the authors purport.
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The brain may be busy planning future activities, but the fMRI still only sees what the brain is currently doing, not what it's about to do (unless it's already doing it).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is a bit misrepresenting. The fMRI does only see what the brain is doing currently. There could be several reasons why the monkey's visual cortex was active before the test was presented to them. One could be as Briggsbio stated. Or what I think is that if the monkey's have become conditioned to taking such visual tests, they will be anticipating the test, thus activating their visual cortex to prepare them for it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswell, i came here to study English. Such scientific question is too difficult for me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi don't think so. even it sees the socalled future, i think it is the brain's reflection to the environment around. i think it's just our thought, not future.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI haven't read the article but surely enough there has to be a comparison with monkeys in the dark which will not perform any tasks to eliminate what Briggsbio is arguing
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