Comments on: The Allure of Brain Scans http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2012/06/the-allure-of-brain-scans/ How human ingenuity is changing the way we live Wed, 22 May 2013 23:01:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: Richard C http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2012/06/the-allure-of-brain-scans/comment-page-1/#comment-1038 Richard C Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:41:28 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/?p=2736#comment-1038 Well put mike & I as a layman would take what you have to say easier than say a bunch of students or any psychiatrist or many of the legal sleuths that seem to be referring to imaging as predictors of types of future behavior. I do enjoy the future of this how ever. I have studied this for about 4 yrs.,in a reverse way,because of of a seizure disorder that does not respond to medication or surgery I have taken part in several studies for different types of testing. I want to understand what they are talking about AND if they actually know what they are talking about. So far in my case at least I have found a lot of guessing & "flip of the coin" predictions. I would NEVER trust phych's of any kind with this type of info. A large group of people that write about criminal cases use the references here as fodder for their side ,when "discussing" a prison or a mental hospital or using scans for rapists to keep them incarcerated for life. I also "feel" my insights from yrs. of seizures and watching how my brain & behavior has changed gives me(no-body lol) more authority than all the phych's I have ever spent time with. Rick Wichita Ks. Well put mike & I as a layman would take what you have to say easier than say a bunch of students or any psychiatrist or many of the legal sleuths that seem to be referring to imaging as predictors of types of future behavior.
I do enjoy the future of this how ever. I have studied this for about 4 yrs.,in a reverse way,because of of a seizure disorder that does not respond to medication or surgery I have taken part in several studies for different types of testing. I want to understand what they are talking about AND if they actually know what they are talking about.
So far in my case at least I have found a lot of guessing & “flip of the coin” predictions. I would NEVER trust phych’s of any kind with this type of info.
A large group of people that write about criminal cases use the references here as fodder for their side ,when “discussing” a prison or a mental hospital or using scans for rapists to keep them incarcerated for life.
I also “feel” my insights from yrs. of seizures and watching how my brain & behavior has changed gives me(no-body lol) more authority than all the phych’s I have ever spent time with. Rick Wichita Ks.

]]> By: Mike from Tucson http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2012/06/the-allure-of-brain-scans/comment-page-1/#comment-929 Mike from Tucson Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:08:29 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/?p=2736#comment-929 To an engineer with some familiarity with particle physics and statistic signal processing the conclusions physicians reach from these imaging experiments are highly dubious. I spent almost a decade as a bioengineer in the medical field and those experiences left me skeptical that the psychologists and "neuroscientists" publishing these imaging studies have any training at all in the physics, the mathematics or the electronics their conclusions rest on. It's well past time for the press to develop some skepticism about neuroimaging. And to demand proof of math and physics credentials that support the "expertise" of the investigators and their staffs. To an engineer with some familiarity with particle physics and statistic signal processing the conclusions physicians reach from these imaging experiments are highly dubious. I spent almost a decade as a bioengineer in the medical field and those experiences left me skeptical that the psychologists and “neuroscientists” publishing these imaging studies have any training at all in the physics, the mathematics or the electronics their conclusions rest on.

It’s well past time for the press to develop some skepticism about neuroimaging. And to demand proof of math and physics credentials that support the “expertise” of the investigators and their staffs.

]]>