Anonymous Mit Student Sts.010 Paper #1

Neuroscience in the News In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the field of brain imaging. Within the past two decades, the number of published papers has risen from 3 per day in 1991 to 7 per day as of 2007 (Feb 11 Lecture: Picturing the Brain)! Despite numerous instrumental and methodological limitations in the use of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imagery) for functional brain imaging, the general public tends to know surprisingly little of its drawbacks and often accepts the results of fMRI studies without question. Given the public's burgeoning interest in the field of neuroimaging, it follows that the media has taken an increasingly active role in reporting on the latest discoveries and innovations in brain imaging. The media's role in shaping the public's perception of brain imaging is tremendous; detailed analyses of the way in which popular media relays information on brain imaging studies to the general public will be critical if one is to better understand the current social phenomena of " neuro-hype ". One such example of this is the article " What Your Brain Looks Like On Faith " published in Time magazine which reports on a study published by Sam Harris in Annals of Neurology entitled " Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and, Uncertainty ". It is essential to understand how scientific research is transformed into news for the general public in order to better understand the current public's perception of brain imaging. Through a detailed comparison of the manner in which the scientific researchers composed their article with the media's