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Welcoming Address of the Vice-President (Academic Affairs) at the Opening Ceremonies of the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, I.O.P., 2002
International Journal of Psychophysiology 48 (2003) 87–88
VICE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Welcoming Address of the Vice-President (Academic Affairs) at the Opening Ceremonies of the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, I.O.P., 2002 1 ¨¨ ¨ Risto Naatanen Vice-President (Academic Affairs), I.O.P.
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki and the Academy of Finland, P.O. Box 13 (Meritullinkatu 1), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Honourable President, honourable guests, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen: As the 2nd Vice President of the International Organization of Psychophysiology (I.O.P.), I have a great pleasure to welcome you all to the 20thAnniversary Congress of the I.O.P.. On the grounds of the years-long intense and skillful preparatory work of the organizers, as well as of the serious determination of each of us participants to give here our very best, we have all reason to expect this congress to become a great success, one that goes to the history of psychophysiology as a significant milestone in the early years of the new millennium. In view of the generally high level of our science, psychophysiology, in whole Canada and in Montreal in particular, it is highly justified that it is just Montreal that was given the honor of hosting this congress of very special significance. Dear colleagues, as I said in my Vice-Presidential welcoming address in the Sydney I.O.P. congress in 2000, i.e., 2 1/2 years ago, our field is currently experiencing a period of dramatic change. The new technological developments, which nobody could foresee even so recently as two decades ago, at the time when the I.O.P. was ¨¨ ¨ E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Naatanen). 1 Vice-President (Academic Affairs), I.O.P.
founded, have made the working and experiencing brain literally transparent. This development has resulted in a major shift of emphasis in research work in cognitive psychophysiology and neuroscience, illustrated by the currently so popular term functional brain imaging. The most typical research tools representing this new Zeitgeist are functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, and the central question asked in these studies usually is where in the brain a response or activation occurs. There might be a caveat here, however. The aspect of localizing brain activation seems to have become far too dominating at the expense of the other significant dimensions of scientific information in cognitive brain research. It is often assumed—explicitly or implicitly—that on the way towards the most significant discoveries on cognitive brain function, the hemodynamic or metabolic localization data constitute the core data and that the role of electrophysiological data would be only to serve as auxiliary data that would provide the time courses of the processes identified and localized by using methodologies with superior localization ability. This kind of thinking seriously underestimates the electrophysiological methodologies, however.
0167-8760/03/$ - see front matter 䊚 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0167-8760(03)00045-X
88
¨¨ ¨ ¨¨ ¨ R. Naatanen, Naatanen / International Journal of Psychophysiology 48 (2003) 87–88
It still is true to-date that electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, in particular eventrelated potentials and their magnetic equivalents, have a great value on their own right and not only as auxiliary, complementary tools of the methodologies with superior localization ability. If I may take an example from the research field of our own, the mismatch negativity provides an objective electrophysiological index of sound discrimination and sensory memory superior to any measure offered by any hemodynamic or metabolic brain-imaging technology. Other people could easily give other similar examples. Locus information may be of crucial significance but this depends on the question asked. Even when succeeding in determining the locus of some brain process with a great accuracy, we might still be far from understanding the operational principles and functional significance of this process. So, in conclusion, I suggest that all avenues, i.e. technologies, still should be regarded as being open for great discoveries. Let us fully explore all these paths for the benefit of our common science, psychophysiology, which has made our paths cross
today in Quebec, Canada, in the expectation of a highly enjoyable and scientifically rewarding week here in the beautiful Montreal. I wish to conclude my welcoming address by expressing my greatest appreciation to the very important role that the I.O.P. has played in the development of psychophysiology during the two decades of its existence, and in particular to Professors Constantine Mangina and Helen BeuzeronMangina for their contributions of vital importance to our organization and science throughout all these years. Without their continuous efforts and dedication, the I.O.P. would not flourish as it now flourishes, on its 20th birthday. Acknowledgments Vice-Presidential Address delivered for the Opening Ceremonies of the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, the Olympics of the Brain, Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, associated with the United Nations (New York), July 29–August 3, 2002, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Welcoming Address of the Vice-President (Academic Affairs) at the Opening Ceremonies of the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, I.O.P., 2002 1 ¨¨ ¨ Risto Naatanen Vice-President (Academic Affairs), I.O.P.
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki and the Academy of Finland, P.O. Box 13 (Meritullinkatu 1), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Honourable President, honourable guests, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen: As the 2nd Vice President of the International Organization of Psychophysiology (I.O.P.), I have a great pleasure to welcome you all to the 20thAnniversary Congress of the I.O.P.. On the grounds of the years-long intense and skillful preparatory work of the organizers, as well as of the serious determination of each of us participants to give here our very best, we have all reason to expect this congress to become a great success, one that goes to the history of psychophysiology as a significant milestone in the early years of the new millennium. In view of the generally high level of our science, psychophysiology, in whole Canada and in Montreal in particular, it is highly justified that it is just Montreal that was given the honor of hosting this congress of very special significance. Dear colleagues, as I said in my Vice-Presidential welcoming address in the Sydney I.O.P. congress in 2000, i.e., 2 1/2 years ago, our field is currently experiencing a period of dramatic change. The new technological developments, which nobody could foresee even so recently as two decades ago, at the time when the I.O.P. was ¨¨ ¨ E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Naatanen). 1 Vice-President (Academic Affairs), I.O.P.
founded, have made the working and experiencing brain literally transparent. This development has resulted in a major shift of emphasis in research work in cognitive psychophysiology and neuroscience, illustrated by the currently so popular term functional brain imaging. The most typical research tools representing this new Zeitgeist are functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, and the central question asked in these studies usually is where in the brain a response or activation occurs. There might be a caveat here, however. The aspect of localizing brain activation seems to have become far too dominating at the expense of the other significant dimensions of scientific information in cognitive brain research. It is often assumed—explicitly or implicitly—that on the way towards the most significant discoveries on cognitive brain function, the hemodynamic or metabolic localization data constitute the core data and that the role of electrophysiological data would be only to serve as auxiliary data that would provide the time courses of the processes identified and localized by using methodologies with superior localization ability. This kind of thinking seriously underestimates the electrophysiological methodologies, however.
0167-8760/03/$ - see front matter 䊚 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0167-8760(03)00045-X
88
¨¨ ¨ ¨¨ ¨ R. Naatanen, Naatanen / International Journal of Psychophysiology 48 (2003) 87–88
It still is true to-date that electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, in particular eventrelated potentials and their magnetic equivalents, have a great value on their own right and not only as auxiliary, complementary tools of the methodologies with superior localization ability. If I may take an example from the research field of our own, the mismatch negativity provides an objective electrophysiological index of sound discrimination and sensory memory superior to any measure offered by any hemodynamic or metabolic brain-imaging technology. Other people could easily give other similar examples. Locus information may be of crucial significance but this depends on the question asked. Even when succeeding in determining the locus of some brain process with a great accuracy, we might still be far from understanding the operational principles and functional significance of this process. So, in conclusion, I suggest that all avenues, i.e. technologies, still should be regarded as being open for great discoveries. Let us fully explore all these paths for the benefit of our common science, psychophysiology, which has made our paths cross
today in Quebec, Canada, in the expectation of a highly enjoyable and scientifically rewarding week here in the beautiful Montreal. I wish to conclude my welcoming address by expressing my greatest appreciation to the very important role that the I.O.P. has played in the development of psychophysiology during the two decades of its existence, and in particular to Professors Constantine Mangina and Helen BeuzeronMangina for their contributions of vital importance to our organization and science throughout all these years. Without their continuous efforts and dedication, the I.O.P. would not flourish as it now flourishes, on its 20th birthday. Acknowledgments Vice-Presidential Address delivered for the Opening Ceremonies of the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, the Olympics of the Brain, Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, associated with the United Nations (New York), July 29–August 3, 2002, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.