Imaging and imagining: current positions on the epistemic priority of theoretical concepts and data in psychiatric neuroimaging.
OBJECTIVE
To give an overview of recent developments in neuroimaging in psychiatry and on the current discussion about the relationship between theoretical concepts and data from neuroimaging studies.


RESULTS
In psychiatric neuroimaging, broad concepts such as the self, well being, insight, empathy and volition form an integral part of the questions to be answered and cannot be avoided. Although, currently, the intradisciplinary discussion in neuroscience is mainly focused at the methodological and neurobiological level, psychological and philosophical theories are also needed for the interpretation of results. This raises questions regarding the epistemic priority of neuroimaging data and theories.


CONCLUSIONS
In the current paper, we present the hypothesis that there is an interdependence of neuroimaging data and theoretical concepts. An approach to 'correlational neuroscience' with an awareness of this issue may help in avoiding misunderstandings and oversimplifications as well as building an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that is able to integrate findings from life sciences, mind sciences and humanities.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. c.huber@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Christian G
CG
Huber
Christian
C
Kummer
Johannes
J
Huber
D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011582:Psychological Theory; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon