Science has just proven one of two things: Dead salmon have emotional reactions to photographs -- or -- some scientists have really crappy research skills. See if you can guess which is true before the end of the article.In a recent study led by Craig Bennet, from the Department of Psychology at the University of California-Santa Barbara, a dead salmon, purchased from market, was hooked up to an MRI and shown some photos. Why would anyone hook a dead salmon up to an MRI and show it pictures? For science, of course.
"The salmon was shown a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations with a specified emotional valence. The salmon was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing," said Bennet.
The results, surprisingly or unsurprisingly depending on which premise you chose at the beginning, was that brain activity was detected.
When this info was made public, those not paying attention figured it was proof of life beyond death, or at the very least that salmon's souls remained trapped in their bodies beyond death, which must really suck for all the ones that make it to the barbecue. However, the point of the study was to take an utterly preposterous premise -- that of measuring brain activity in a dead animal, and showing how faulty research and data can support it, thereby encouraging more thorough research practices.
The "brain activity" detected likely came from background noise, any kind of interference that coincidentally matched up with some of the scans. At face value, it indicates a dead fish reacted to photos, but really just shows how easily and sensationally data can be misinterpreted. Or it proves fish have souls. Whatever.
