What does the dead salmon study indicate?
When they used the multiple corrected comparisons, the dead salmon showed nothing. When they did the multiple comparisons without the correction, the salmon showed significant increases in “activation”, coincidentally, in the brain and spinal cord.
What was the point of the study about the dead salmon’s brain activity?
Researchers placed the fish in a brain imaging device. Next, they showed it pictures of a human in various social situations. They then asked the salmon what emotion the human must have felt. The researchers in turn discovered that the salmon’s brain showed neural activity when confronted with the pictures.
What did the dead salmon study by Bennett et al 2009 reveal about fMRI?
In the fMRI scan, it looked like the dead salmon was actually thinking about the pictures it had been shown. “By complete, random chance, we found some voxels that were significant that just happened to be in the fish’s brain,” Bennett said.
Why is salmon important in fMRI?
‘The dead salmon study was not bashing functional MRI, it was about people who refuse to use multiple comparisons correction in functional MRI analysis … the salmon is important because it drew attention to the problem, but it’s not a problem with functional MRI as such’.
What brain scan shows brain activity?
A form of MRI known as functional MRI (fMRI) has emerged as the most prominent neuroimaging technology over the last two decades. fMRI tracks changes in blood flow and oxygen levels to indicate neural activity. When a particular brain area is more active, it consumes more oxygen, and blood flow increases.
How do doctors check for brain activity?
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that detects electrical activity in your brain using small, metal discs (electrodes) attached to your scalp. Your brain cells communicate via electrical impulses and are active all the time, even when you’re asleep.
Can a dead salmon be used to study the brain?
Scanning Dead Salmon in fMRI Machine Highlights Risk of Red Herrings. Neuroscientist Craig Bennett purchased a whole Atlantic salmon, took it to a lab at Dartmouth, and put it into an fMRI machine used to study the brain. The beautiful fish was to be the lab’s test object as they worked out some new methods.
Can a dead salmon tell you your emotional state?
“By complete, random chance, we found some voxels that were significant that just happened to be in the fish’s brain,” Bennett said. “And if I were a ridiculous researcher, I’d say, ‘A dead salmon perceiving humans can tell their emotional state.'” The result is completely nuts — but that’s actually exactly the point.
Was the dead salmon paper really damning for functional MRI?
The dead salmon paper also triggered a huge response in blogs and social media, with many quick to claim that the results were damning for functional MRI. But what is behind this appetite for studies that seem to discredit functional neuroimaging, and to what extent is such scepticism justified?
Why did Bennett use a salmon as a test subject?
To maintain the rigor of the protocol (and perhaps because it was hilarious), the salmon, just like a human test subject, “was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing.” The salmon, as Bennett’s poster on the test dryly notes, “was not alive at the time of scanning.”