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There's a lot more to neuroscience than media 'neuromania' Why do some critics refuse to accept that the solution to many mysteries of the mind will be found in the brain?

Mark stokes writes in the "Notes & Theories" Section of The Guardian "Dispatches to the Science Desk", 25th Jun 2013:

Neuroscience gets a lot of press. Popular media outlets run the latest story of a brain scan that predicts your political leanings, or which action you are about to choose, or an ex-prisoner's likely chance of reoffending.

Many of the claims are premature, oversold, and/or just plain wrong, and every now and again it's time for a backlash. Backlashes provide much needed airtime for critiques of grossly oversold neuroscientific claims, with great work done by regular bloggers such as Neuroskeptic, Neurocritic, Neurobollocks etc.

But sometimes the backlash strays from specifics to a general condemnation of the field (recent examples can be found in the Guardian and New York Times). Neuroscience is then recast as a form of mania, neuromania, with slick sales teams peddling neurohype to an ever-credulous public.

Follow Mark on Twitter @StokesNeuro

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