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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 14, 2026

Transferring Cognitive Tasks Between Brain Imaging Modalities: Implications for Task Design and Results Interpretation in fMRI Studies

Transferring Cognitive Tasks Between Brain Imaging Modalities: Implications for Task Design and Results Interpretation in fMRI Studies

Published on: September 22, 2014

Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data?

Russell A Poldrack¹

¹Department of Psychology and Brain Research Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. poldrack@ucla.edu

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|January 13, 2006

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Reverse inference, inferring cognitive processes from brain region activation, offers limited evidence. Its usefulness in cognitive neuroscience is constrained by brain region selectivity, urging caution.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

Functional neuroimaging is increasingly used to study cognition.
Reverse inference, inferring cognitive processes from brain activation, is a common but potentially flawed practice.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the evidential value of reverse inference in cognitive neuroscience.
To assess the impact of brain region selectivity on the validity of reverse inference.

Main Methods:

Bayesian analysis of the BrainMap neuroimaging database.
Characterization of evidence supporting cognitive process engagement based on brain region activation.

Main Results:

Reverse inference provides limited additional evidence for cognitive process engagement.
The selectivity of activation in a specific brain region significantly impacts the usefulness of reverse inference.

Conclusions:

Cognitive neuroscientists should exercise caution when using reverse inference.
The practice is particularly unreliable when the selectivity of the brain region is weak or unestablished.