2644: fMRI Billboard

|< < Prev Comic #2644 (July 11, 2022) Next > >|

fMRI Billboard

Title text: [other side] If the first word of an instruction you're given starts with the same letter as your crush's name, for that step imagine the experimenter is your crush.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by YOUR SCARIEST MEMORY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a method of four-dimensional computed tomography able to record animated images of animal brain activity by detecting blood flow changes apparent from magnetic differences between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin. Researchers use fMRI to try to detect deception and false memories,[1] plan brain surgery,[2] and understand the relationship between brain structures and cognition,[3] among many other investigations.

This comic shows a billboard erected by a neuroscience department in an attempt at sabotaging a rival department's student experiment subject compliance with their fMRI study instructions, by suggesting behaviors which would likely produce unexpected results such as recalling a frightening memory after seeing a similar stimulus slides, or imaging the lab technician is a romantic interest when reading words that begin with the same letter as their name. This is funny, because following such instructions, or even inadvertently remembering them during an fMRI, could very well interfere with fMRI results.

fMRI experiments are often criticized because they have low statistical power and can easily be confounded by experiment subject error in following instructions, among many other variables. In a famous 2009 study, a dead fish was shown to have apparent evidence of brain activity when scanned with ordinary fMRI techniques.[4] In 2015, discovery of a statistical error invalidated at least 40,000 fMRI studies.[5] Subsequently in 2017, many more fMRI results were further discredited due to poor software parameter selection.[6]

The title text indicates that the sabotaging instructions are printed on both sides of the billboard, suggesting that it might have been erected on the grounds of the targeted rival department.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

[A giant, building-sized billboard rises over what appears to be a college campus. It reads:]

⚠ Student fMRI volunteers ⚠

Remember, when you're in the scanner, if you see a slide that's similar to one they already showed you, think as hard as you can about your scariest memory.

[Caption below the panel:] A rival neuroscience department keeps trying to sabotage our experiments.

 add a comment! ⋅  add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅  refresh comments!

Discussion

Changed it from "instructions given within the scanner" to "tasks performed there", or words to those effects. Still a bit wrong for "get in there and just react naturally" (to whatever images, sounds, smells, etc get presented to the subject) but continues to allows for "Now say the colour of the written word"/"Now say the colour that is written" switches in task, whilst in situ. 172.70.86.64 01:21, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

New What If?

I noticed a new article, not sure if people have updated it here. 172.70.178.103 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Thanks for the hint. I have added it to the what if? list of articles, and I had not noticed it before your comment. :-) --Kynde (talk) 18:49, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

In the virtual simulation of reality given me, your article is at what if rather than what if?; could you compare your matrix codes with mine? 172.70.114.253 00:45, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

I just changed the capitalization of the W to w and then it worked with ? after. Did the same in yours. --Kynde (talk) 10:57, 20 July 2022 (UTC)

"Citation" needed?

The "citation needed" tag links to a W'pedia article about the Cessna Citation aircraft line. Is there some reason to keep that that I'm not getting? BunsenH (talk) 19:05, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm generally in favor of both sincere and satirical uses of ^{[citation needed]} but our default link target is far superior to that custom one; changing it out.... 172.69.33.9 21:31, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

Probably the person who put it doesn't know about the default and/or how to use it, and instead came up with the funniest thing they could think of. NiceGuy1 (talk) 02:09, 17 July 2022 (UTC)