The Head’s Kaleidoscope: Exciting Advances in Brain Imaging

March 16, 2009

… Some of what phrenology purported to do, fMRI actually does, and with scientific rigor at that. Developed in the 1990’s, fMRI offers a quantifiable, noninvasive method for detecting localized changes in brain activity. Unlike traditional MRI and computer tomography (CT), which yield static pictures of the brain, fMRI allows us to pin dynamic processes—thoughts, emotions, and experiences—to concrete neural tissue, all in real time. (The Harvard Brain)