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S&F_n. 5_2011UMBERTO DI PORZIOIL CERVELLO DAL DI DENTROAbstract 1. Il cervello: questo sconosciuto 2. Il cervello visto da dentro3. Il connettoma: ovvero il cervello mappato 4. Questioni eticheThe mind is an enchanting thingis an enchanted thinglike the glaze on a katydid‐wingsubdivided by suntill the nettings are legion.Like Gieseking playing Scarlatti;like the apteryx‐awlas a beak, or the kiwi's rain‐shawlof haired feathers, the mindfeeling its way as though blind,walks with its eyes on the ground * .AbstractThe functional magneticresonance imaging (fMRI)techniques are a potentprobe able to visualizebrain functions, byanalyzing modificationof blood oxygenation,and see the action inspecific brain areas inresponse to activity orthoughts.fMRI thus promise to bea formidable tool not only to draw a new cartography of brain functional areas,but also a new tool to understand some aspects of brain function’s evolution,as well to get insights and to breach the wall into cognition, morality andconsciousness.Nevertheless fMRI is not deprived of pitfalls such as limitation in spatialaccuracy, reliable reproducibility of brain scan amongst different individualsor in the same person at different stages of life ( age or health versusdisease), the different time scale of fMRI measurements (seconds) and neuron’saction potentials (milliseconds). Thus often caution is required in theappreciation of fMRI results and conclusions, that could lead to incorrectinterpretation of brain signals and induce to draw spurious conclusions.New applications combining fMRI and real time visualization of one's own brainactivity in healthy volunteers or patients promise to enable individuals tomodify brain response and thus therapeutically or with other goals intervene inmodifying individual behaviors.Specially this last aspect, as well as the concern about the confidentialityand storage of sensible information or forensic uses of such approaches, raisesthe problem of mind privacy and new ethical questions.* Marianne Moore (1887‐1972): La mente è una cosa incantevole, è una cosa incantata, /come losmalto sopra/ un’ala di locusta, /suddiviso dal sole /finché le trame sono una legione. /ComeGieseking che suona Scarlatti; /come il punteruolo che l’apteryx/ ha per becco, oppure come /loscialle da pioggia del kivi, /fatto di piume filiformi, la mente/ avverte la sua strada come fossecieca/ e cammina tenendo gli occhi a terra.63