All Washed Up

BrainWash Cafe & LaundromatThe popular press has been a major contributor to facile views of neuroimaging. So it seems ironic that everywhere you look, the new book Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience is in the news.Has neuroscience left us 'Brainwashed'?Dan Vergano, USA TODAY   9:39 a.m. EDT June 22, 2013Have we all been brainwashed about brain images? Amid dazzling insights and daily advances into the workings of the mind, they also may engrain mistaken ideas about human nature, a book warns.Will we see a reactionary resurgence of dualism as a result? In my previous post we learned that the brain is not the mind, according to David Brooks.1 Hopefully that was an isolated incident.Nevertheless, allegations of neurobollocks, neurodoubt, and neuroscience fiction are fashionable these days. This has been useful in pointing out flawed studies, overblown conclusions, and overly hyped press releases. But some neuroskeptical scientists think the naysaying has gotten a little out of hand, and that expert critiques are easily misinterpreted. Dr. Gary Marcus summarized this well in The Problem with the Neuroscience Backlash, and I've written about it in the Journomarketing of Neurobollocks and Meet the Neuro Doubters.Take the USA Today article above. It wasn't an egregious offender, yet it used an unfortunate mixed metaphor to make a point:The brain is the temple of the mind, but are images of it in action a little over-worshipped?The 'temple...
Source: The Neurocritic - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs