How Scientists Are Tackling Brain Imaging’s Replication Problem

Researchers who spoke with Spectrum say that while brain imaging tools have their limitations, they still hold promise in helping to unlock the brain’s secrets.

Written byAngie Voyles Askham and Spectrum
| 7 min read
A series of brain scans on a black background

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
7:00
Share

Whole-brain activation and reliability maps for task-functional MRI measures
REPUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION, PSYCHOL SCI, DOI:10.1177/0956797620916786, 2020

When Maxwell Elliott’s latest research paper began making the rounds on Twitter last June, he wasn’t sure how he felt.

Elliott, a graduate student in clinical psychology in Ahmad Hariri’s lab at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, studies functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and how it can be used to better understand neurological conditions such as dementia and autism.

He was excited that this “nitty-gritty” aspect of the field, as he describes it, was garnering a bit more attention, but the reason for the buzz disappointed him: A news outlet had picked up the story and run it with an overstated headline: “Duke University researchers say every brain activity study you’ve ever read is wrong.”

“They seemed to just totally misunderstand it,” Elliott says.

His study, published in Psychological Science, did not discount 30 ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
July Digest 2025
July 2025, Issue 1

What Causes an Earworm?

Memory-enhancing neural networks may also drive involuntary musical loops in the brain.

View this Issue
Accelerating Recombinase Reprogramming with Machine Learning

Accelerating Recombinase Reprogramming with Machine Learning

Genome Modeling and Design: From the Molecular to Genome Scale

Genome Modeling and Design: From the Molecular to Genome Scale

Twist Bio 
Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

DNA and pills, conceptual illustration of the relationship between genetics and therapeutic development

Multiplexing PCR Technologies for Biopharmaceutical Research

Thermo Fisher Logo

Products

waters-logo

Waters and BD's Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions Business to Combine, Creating a Life Science and Diagnostics Leader Focused on Regulated, High-Volume Testing

zymo-research-logo

Zymo Research Partners with Harvard University to Bring the BioFestival to Cambridge, Empowering World-class Research

10x-genomics-logo

10x Genomics and A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore Launch TISHUMAP Study to Advance AI-Driven Drug Target Discovery

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Sino Biological Sets New Industry Standard with ProPure Endotoxin-Free Proteins made in the USA