04/06/2025
đ§ ⨠Brain scans are powerful⌠but not in the way the internet thinks.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no brain scan that can diagnose mental disorders, personality traits, attachment, narcissism or trauma. Despite what youâve seen in clickbait headlines or insta videos claiming to âsee narcissismâ or âdetect ADHD in the brain,â no diagnostic brain imaging exists for any psychological or emotional âcondition.â
Yes, neuroscientific studies have explored correlations between brain structure or activity and various behaviours or diagnoses, but these are exploratory, small-scale, and not replicable or diagnostic. As neuroscientists like Dr. Martha Farah and Dr. Sally Satel have long warned, we are a long way from being able to make any individual-level clinical predictions from brain scans.
đ What brain scans can do is detect physical abnormalities: tumours, bleeds, strokes, injuries, and disease. What they canât do is read your mind, find out your attachment styles, measure your empathy, or tell if someone is a âpsychopathâ or a ânarcissistâ.
Why does this matter? Because misinformation about brain imaging is being used to justify dangerous assumptions in law, education, and mental health, especially against women, children, and marginalised people. Itâs a seductive mix of pseudoscience and control. People donât question it, not even politicians. They assume because it sounds scientific and smart, it must be right.
Letâs stick to evidence. Letâs not pathologise people based on myths.