The Brain Is Not an Explanation

The Huffington Post:

“Brain scans pinpoint how chocoholics are hooked.”

This headline appeared in the Guardian a few years ago above a science story that began: “Chocoholics really do have chocolate on the brain.” The story went on to describe a study that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of chocoholics and non-cravers. The study found increased activity in the pleasure centers of the chocoholics’ brains, and the Guardian report concluded: “There may also be some truth in calling the love of chocolate an addiction in some people.”

Really? Is that a fair conclusion to draw from the fMRI data in this study, reported in the European Journal of Neuroscience? Brain stories have become incredibly popular in the news pages in recent years — and brain imaging stories especially, in part because of the colorful “pictures” that often accompany the data and analysis. But how much can we really conclude from these images? How skeptical should we be, as readers of the science pages in the paper?

Read the whole story: The Huffington Post