Website of the week: Neuroimaging
Authors: R. Kale
Journal: BMJ (2002)

The internet makes a powerful case against those who believe the mind and brain are separate


The philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was unfortunate. He did not have access to websites or to information from research in neuroscience, particularly neuroimaging, which we have. So one cannot blame him for thinking that the mind was distinct from the body, for initiating dualism. We have such access and need to think differently from the way he did when we look at the mind-brain problem. 






I decided to take Descartes to visit some brain websites. We saw some images of the brain at the laboratory of neuroimaging at UCLA (www.loni.ucla.edu/About_Loni/index.html). Descartes appeared interested but wasn't wowed. He wanted to read about the brain in action not just see the structure. So we went on to www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fmri_intro/ which gave us all the basics he needed to know about functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain. However, he wanted to know more about what this exciting technology could be used for. So we saw some of the presentations from the FMRI Conference 2002 at http://intramural.nimh.nih.gov/fmriconf/presents.htm and the website of the Society for Neuroscience (http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/index.html and http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainWaves/index.html), which I knew to be well worth wandering about.

Descartes got totally absorbed. We read that a new brain imaging study by Daniel Langleben shows that there may be an objective difference between lying and telling the truth that can be measured in the brain. fMRI detected a difference in brain activity during intentionally deceptive and truthful statements. The researchers asked 18 healthy participants to deny having an object hidden in their pocket when shown a picture of that object among many pictures of similar objects. Pictures were presented one by one while participants' brains were scanned by fMRI, which can detect brief changes in brain activity. The way questions about the objects were asked closely followed a method commonly used in deception research. The researchers found that the anterior cingulate gyrus and the left prefrontal and premotor cortex were significantly more active when participants lied than when they told the truth.

“Rene, what do you think?” I asked him.

“If lying and telling the truth isn't about the mind, then what is?” Descartes asked.

We further found that scientists have compiled studies that show serotonin is implicated in aggressive acts. One example involves mice who lack one type of receptor that responds to serotonin. These defective mice attack intruders faster and more intensely. Other researchers examined the spinal fluid of murderers in Finland. Their results indicate that these individuals have abnormally low levels of serotonin.

“Yes, Rene?”

“If aggression isn't about the mind, what is?”

We appreciated better what music does after visiting the website, for music training beefs up brain circuitry. For example, the primary motor cortex and the cerebellum are bigger in adult musicians than in people who do not play musical instruments, as is the corpus callosum. Moreover, musically trained adults perform better on word memory tests than other adults. In addition, rats exposed to Mozart completed a maze more rapidly and with fewer errors than other rats.

“Appreciating music is certainly about the mind,” mused Descartes.

We spent a few moments reading that young female mice who spent several months in an environment filled with tunnels, toys, and running wheels developed more neurones and performed a learning and memory task better than did isolated mice.

“This experiment is about fun, about toys. And fun is in the mind,” said Descartes.

“There is something about memory too,” added Descartes. “Did you know . . .?”

“What do you think Rene?”

“Of course, the mind is a function of the brain. I would have said that had I known all this stuff about the brain!”

“But we have psychiatrists and neurologists who think that the two are different. They are dualists!” (see p 1468)

“Silly chaps, dualists!” said Descartes concluding his visit.