The future of fMRI

Recent articles

This series of essays explores new developments and challenges in human brain imaging.

Illustration of a brain with a window opening into it.

To understand the brain as a network organ, we must image cortical layers

Human neuroscience research has largely overlooked this spatial scale—which bridges cells and brain areas. But new advances in functional MRI technology are changing that.

By Laurentius Huber
2 June 2025 | 7 min listen
fMRI scans exiting a grain silo.

To make a meaningful contribution to neuroscience, fMRI must break out of its silo

We need to develop research programs that link phenomena across levels, from genes and molecules to cells, circuits, networks and behavior.

By Avram Holmes
8 April 2025 | 8 min listen
Illustration of a toolbox with some tools replaced with lines of code.

New tools help make neuroimaging accessible to more researchers

A lack of programming experience can derail experimental aspirations. But custom software packages, web-based applications and video tutorials make functional MRI concepts easier to grasp.

By Andrew Jahn
5 March 2025 | 6 min listen
A hand holds multi-colored cubes.

Should we use the computational or the network approach to analyze functional brain-imaging data—why not both?

Emerging methods make it possible to combine the two tactics from opposite ends of the analytic spectrum, enabling scientists to have their cake and eat it too.

By Mac Shine
13 May 2024 | 7 min listen
Illustration of a hand reaching out to adjust a dial that sits in the middle of several images depicting brain activity and various behaviors.

To improve big data, we need small-scale human imaging studies

By insisting that every brain-behavior association study include hundreds or even thousands of participants, we risk stifling innovation. Smaller studies are essential to test new scanning paradigms.

By Emily S. Finn
15 April 2024 | 7 min read
An illustration of a mouse sitting in an armchair next to a framed picture of mouse brains

To make fMRI more clinically useful, we need to really get BOLD

A better understanding of the blood oxygen level dependent, or BOLD, signal requires more support for multimodal imaging studies.

By Evelyn Lake
22 January 2024 | 6 min read

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Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood

By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.

By Natalia Mesa
4 September 2025 | 6 min read

Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain

The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.

By Claudia López Lloreda
3 September 2025 | 5 min read

Astrocyte networks span large swaths of brain

The networks are plastic, connect brain regions that aren’t connected by neurons and may enable long-distance communication between astrocytes, a new preprint shows.

By Calli McMurray
3 September 2025 | 5 min listen

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