The New Mind Readers

A revealing insider's account of the power – and limitations – of functional MRI

The ability to read minds has long been a fascination of science fiction, but revolutionary new brain-imaging methods are bringing it closer to scientific reality. The New Mind Readers looks at the origins, development, and future of these extraordinary tools, revealing how they are increasingly being used to decode our thoughts and experiences — and how this raises sometimes troubling questions about their application in domains such as marketing, politics, and the law.

Written by one of the world's leading pioneers in cognitive neuroscience, this book offers needed perspective on what these emerging methods can and cannot do. It demonstrates how they can provide answers to age-old questions about the nature of consciousness and what it means to be human.