{"id":1591,"date":"2011-02-04T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-04T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ombs\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2011-02-04T12:00:29","modified_gmt":"2011-02-04T16:00:29","slug":"neuro_________","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/2011\/02\/04\/neuro_________\/","title":{"rendered":"Neuro_________"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"addthis_button\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Neuroscience has transformed itself into a highly interdisciplinary science rooted in biology that integrates psychology, chemistry, physics, computer science, philosophy, math, engineering, and just about every other type of science that we know of.  Botany?  Synthesis of new drugs.  Oceanography?  Animal models.  I\u2019m sure there must be some science that neuroscience hasn\u2019t touched, but I can\u2019t think of one.<\/p>\n<p>Since its inception, neuroscience has gotten its grubby little fingers all over the science community.  Now, it\u2019s not clear whether the recent flood into even more fields is the result of ambitious forward thinkers or crafty businessmen, but either way, \u201cneuro\u201d as a prefix is popping up everywhere.  While some of these up-and-coming fields show promise or, at least, raise interesting questions, others are less convincing\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neuromarketing<\/strong>: Studies consumers\u2019 sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli<br \/>\n<strong>How<\/strong>: fMRI, EEG, eye tracking and GSR (Galvanic Skin Response)<br \/>\n<strong> Why<\/strong>: Provides information on what a consumer reacts to.  (For example, is it the color, sound, or feel or a product that drew you to it?)<br \/>\n<strong> Does it hold water? <\/strong> The neuromarketing firms say so, but there\u2019s minimal peer-reviewed published data to support their claims<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/encefalus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/neuroeconomics_2.jpg\" alt=\"Money on the brain\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Neuroeconomics<\/strong>: Studies decision making under risk and uncertainty, inter-temporal choices (decision that have costs and benefits over time), and social decision making<br \/>\n<strong> How<\/strong>: fMRI, PET, EEG, MEG, recordings of ERP and neurotransmitter concentrations, in \t\taddition to behavioral data over various design parameters<br \/>\n<strong> Why<\/strong>: Some facets of economic behaviors are not completely explained by mainstream \t\teconomics (expected utility, rational agents) or behavioral economics (heuristics, \t\tframing)<br \/>\n<strong> Does it hold water?<\/strong> The field has emerged as a respectable one, with centers for \t\tneuroeconomic study at many highly regarded universities<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neurolaw:<\/strong> Integrates neuroscientific data with the proceedings of the legal system<br \/>\n<strong> How:<\/strong> MRI, fMRI, PET<br \/>\n<strong> Why:<\/strong> Supporters believe reliable neuroscientific data can elucidate the truth behind \t\thuman actions<br \/>\n<strong> Does it hold water?<\/strong> TBD.  Lie detectors and predictive measures are not yet refined \t\tenough to make any real claims.  However, the insanity defense (in which a \t\tdefendant can claim that a neurological illness robbed him or her of the capacity \t\tto control his or her behavior) can clear defendants of criminal liability.  In \t\taddition, the ethics of sentencing and lawmaking with neuroscientific data falls in \t\ta grey area.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neuropolitics:<\/strong> Studies the neurological effects of political messages as well as the characteristics \tof political people<br \/>\n<strong> How:<\/strong> fMRI, GSR<br \/>\n<strong> Why:<\/strong> To asses the physical effect of political messages .  Also, are liberals and \t\tconservatives mechanically different?<br \/>\n<strong> Does it hold water? <\/strong> Probably not, but everyone likes a little neuro-babble.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure this is only the beginning of the neuro______ revolution.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/medtech\/health\/magazine\/16-06\/mf_neurohacks?currentPage=2\">Brain Scans as Mind Readers?  Don&#8217;t Believe the Hype.<\/a> &#8211; Wired.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2007\/03\/11\/magazine\/11Neurolaw.t.html?pagewanted=1&amp;_r=1\">The Brain on the Stand<\/a> &#8211; NYTimes.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/id\/2200606\/\">Why is every neuropundit such a raging liberal?<\/a> &#8211; Slate.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neuroeconomics\">Neuroeconomics<\/a> &#8211; Wikipedia<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neuromarketing\">Neuromarketing<\/a> &#8211; Wikipedia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Neuroscience has transformed itself into a highly interdisciplinary science rooted in biology that integrates psychology, chemistry, physics, computer science, philosophy, math, engineering, and just about every other type of science that we know of. Botany? Synthesis of new drugs. Oceanography? Animal models. I\u2019m sure there must be some science that neuroscience hasn\u2019t touched, but I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[591],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}