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Introduction In response to a request from the U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI), a National Research Council (NRC) committee was formed to undertake, over a one-year period, a study of new technologies in cognitive psychophysiology, particularly tenth respect to potential applications to military problems. The committee was asked to carry out the following tasks: review and amess current research relevant to issues concerning the relationship between the new technologies and cognitive skills; on the bash of this review, assess the likelihood that progress will be made in the foreseeable future; identify opportunities for basic and applied research with proper recognition of ethical issues; and assess the feasibility add desirability of a major study on the relation between cognitive science and neuroscience. Because of the study's time limitations, this report covers only the four technologies that were examined by the committee: (1) event-related brain potentials (ERPs), (2) the magnetoencephalo- gra~n (MEG), (3) brain-imaging techniques (PET and MRI), and (4) the approach based on studying patients with brain lesions or dis- connections, usually caused by accidents or traumas. The committee considered the critical conceptual and empirical problems facing the field as well ~ potential opportunities provided by the technologies for better understanding of cognitive processes. The discussion in this report of these basic and applied issues is the basis for the committee's recommendations. Following this introduction, the report is organized into five chapters. Chapter 2 is an attempt to define the field of cognitive s
6 BRAIN AND COGNITION: SOME NEW TECHNOLOGIES psychophysiology, distinguishing first between cognitive psychology on one hand and psychophysiology on the other, and then discussing the advantages of combining the two into an enlarged discipline. Chapter 3 consists of a detailed discussion of each of the technologies, including a review of current research, appraisals of the likelihood of progress, and a discussion of opportunities for future research. Chapter 4 discusses problems that must be resolved if progress is to be made. Chapter 5 deals with applications and ethical issues. Chapter 6 considers the feasibility of an enlarged study of the relation between cognitive science and neuroscience. This structure is intended to facilitate the task of reading the re- port. Discussions of the four technologies are found in two chapters: Chapter 3 presents a description of each technology, a discussion of methodological issues, and a review of relevant empirical research. Chapter 4 discusses problems and issues concerning the use of each technology for research and application. The reader with more back- ground in the areas under study will find this part to be of special interest.
