According to legend, functional neuroimaging can trace its roots to the stroke of noon on a day in the late 19th century, when Italian physiologist Angelo Mosso observed a sudden increase in brain pulsation in his test subject, Bertino the peasant. Using an elaborate contraption, Mosso had been measuring the pulsations coming from a soft spot in Bertino's skull, the result of a head injury. Intrigued by the sudden pulsing, Mosso asked Bertino if the chiming of the local church bell had reminded him of his forgotten midday prayers. When Bertino said yes, his brain pulsated again. Then Mosso asked Bertino to multiply 8 by 12. Again, Bertino's brain pulsated. Thus was borne the notion that blood flow in the brain is related to cognition.
That notion remains the basis of what some neuroscientists consider the most powerful in vivo brain imaging technology in use today, functional magnetic resonance imaging ...
