By showing us the human brain at work, PET (positron emission
tomography) scans are subtly--and sometimes not so subtly--transforming
how we think about our minds. Picturing Personhood follows this
remarkable and expensive technology from the laboratory into the world
and back. It examines how PET scans are created and how they are being
called on to answer myriad questions with far-reaching implications: Is
depression an observable brain disease? Are criminals insane? Do men and
women think differently? Is rationality a function of the brain?
Based on interviews, media analysis, and participant observation at
research labs and conferences, Joseph Dumit analyzes how assumptions
designed into and read out of the experimental process reinforce
specific notions about human nature. Such assumptions can enter the
process at any turn, from selecting subjects and mathematical models to
deciding which images to publish and how to color them. Once they leave
the laboratory, PET scans shape social debates, influence courtroom
outcomes, and have positive and negative consequences for people
suffering mental illness. Dumit follows this complex story,
demonstrating how brain scans, as scientific objects, contribute to our
increasing social dependence on scientific authority.
The first book to examine the cultural ramifications of brain-imaging
technology, Picturing Personhood is an unprecedented study that will
influence both cultural studies and the growing field of science and
technology studies.
