For decades, researchers have tried to use brain scans to find connections between brain structure and behavior. But most of the results cannot be repeated.
Are people whose cerebral cortex is particularly thick smarter than others? Do people in whom two specific brain regions are linked to one another at an above-average level have an increased risk of mental illness? Brain-wide association studies should clarify such questions. To do this, researchers scan the brains of their test subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and try to link the similarities and differences found in the brains of several test subjects with character traits, cognitive abilities or mental illnesses.
Many such studies...
