Study warns of red herrings in brain scan data

Posted on behalf of Kerri Smith

Well, not quite red herrings, but Atlantic salmon. Allow me to explain. Reported on the Neuroskeptic and Neurolaw blogs this week is a study that aimed to demonstrate the risks of finding false positives in brain scanning studies – correlations that aren’t really there.

A group of scientists led by Craig Bennett at the University of California at Santa Barbara conducted their study with an unusual participant. From their Methods section:
“Subject: One mature Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) participated in the fMRI study. The salmon was approximately 18 inches long, weighed 3.8 lbs, and was not alive at the time of scanning.” Warning: below the fold it gets a bit fishy.

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