Close-Up: Live issue - Is neuroscience making a difference?

Agencies are finding brain mapping a useful tool in understanding consumers, Caroline Lovell says.

A giant functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) brain scanner machine won't give you miraculous powers, but it could possibly reveal what every brand has ever strived to discover: the key to understanding how humans unconsciously see their products.

Many clients, such as McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, GMTV and Johnson & Johnson, have already dabbled in neuroscience, but in adland, the brain explorers are few and far between.

Two weeks ago, the first neuromarketing conference was held in Warwick to look at how neuroscience techniques could enhance market research practices. Not surprisingly, only a couple of people from adland attended. But as the world's first applied neuroimaging centre, based at the University of Warwick, gets ready to open its doors, momentum is picking up.

The brain is made up of networks of neurons. When these cell clusters are stimulated, they use more energy. These active areas light up on fMRI scans, allowing scientists to map emotion and cognition.

Neuroimaging by a fMRI scanner produces a colour-coded image of the brain that predicts behaviour by revealing a person's unconscious feelings about a brand or ad.

With 90-plus neuromarketing agencies worldwide, it is not exactly early days, but the area is still being explored and there is much scepticism, especially within ad circles.