tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post2572803805816100527..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Brain Imaging and Gulf War SyndromeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-26039023847915446882013-06-16T11:45:08.814-04:002013-06-16T11:45:08.814-04:00Yes, there are interesting things about this study...Yes, there are interesting things about this study, viz., that there are two different patterns within their subjects with regard to both heart function and brain abnormalities. And I suppose if it turned out that one of those patterns was very rare among other people with PTSD or Chronic Fatigue, but common among Gulf War vets, that might tell us that something special did happen to soldiers in the Gulf. But I am waging a long-term campaign against the notion that differences in fMRI pictures mean that mental problems have physical causes. We don't really know what, if anything, fMRI pictures tell us about brain function, and we also know, as I said, that high levels of stress produce observable differences in the brains of mice and rats. So whenever I see a claim that fMRI pictures mean that mental problems are "real," my alarms go off.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-87658688670819081692013-06-16T09:41:33.692-04:002013-06-16T09:41:33.692-04:00Those brain studies may not tell us much, certainl...Those brain studies may not tell us much, certainly nothing definitive, but they're a nice piece of data. Why bash them? Yes, the news reports and the grants process require the researchers involved to make exaggerated claims about their discoveries; but that is a different argument that you have made elsewhere, and which you do not seem to be making here. Here you seem to making a claim that common sense can render some research unnecessary. Yes, common sense tells us that different mental conditions must be expressed in differences in the brain, but surely the history of science teaches us the limits of common sense. Science wants something more like proof. After all, common sense tells us that the sun moves around the earth. What else could possibly be happening?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993570411881726772noreply@blogger.com