Mind-reading: From functional neuro-imaging to the philosophy of the mind

Project Team:

Principal Investigator:

Dr Tim Bayne, University of Manchester

Co-Investigator and Partners: 

Professor Michael Anderson, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, USA

Dr Colin Klein, Macquerie University

Professor Martin Kinsey Davies, University of Oxford

Award Information:

In the last decade, functional neuroimaging has gone from being a relatively minor component of the sciences of the mind to being one of their central resources. Not only is neuroimaging being used to uncover the information-processing structure of the mind, it is now also being used as a ‘mind-reading’ technique. In neural mind-reading (or ‘brain decoding’) studies, information about an individual’s brain states is used to ascribe mental states — such as thoughts, intentions, and conscious experiences — to an individual. The aim of this project is to examine the methodology, scope and philosophical implications of neuroimaging-based mind-reading.