Past, present and future influences of functional magnetic resonance imaging on the development of psychology: A review of the literature

Abstract

Neuroimaging has become increasingly important for psychology, especially in the studies of cognitive functions, and the past two decades have seen an enormous increase in functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) research. fMRI is one of the best neuroimaging methods ever devised, merging high spatial resolution with relatively high temporal resolution. fMRI has contributed significantly to integrating cognitive psychology and neuroscience into the interdisciplinary field of cognitive neuroscience. The capabilities of fMRI are being expanded to other fields as well, like social psychology, leading to the even more interdisciplinary field of social cognitive neuroscience. Although fMRI still has some limitations regarding temporal resolution and statistics, new insights in how to overcome these limitations look promising. In the near future, the capabilities of fMRI will probably be expanded even more, yielding new discoveries in even more fields of psychology. fMRI has expanded the boundaries of psychology, leading to new interdisciplinary fields of research in psychology, and psychology itself has promoted the development of fMRI by applying it to new experimental paradigms.