Brain scans involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been a media darling for two decades. Images of brains lighting up to external stimuli have proved irresistible and have helped neuroscience achieve popular renown. But fMRI has also received a battering. First, most famously, when used on a dead salmon, the technique appeared to show brain and spinal cord activity when subject to stimuli (in this case, images of people in social situations).

Brain scans involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been a media darling for two decades. Images of brains lighting up to external stimuli have proved irresistible and have helped neuroscience achieve popular renown. But fMRI has also received a battering. First, most famously, when used on a dead salmon, the technique appeared to show brain and spinal cord activity when subject to stimuli (in this case, images of people in social situations).