Abstract

Brain images are looked at as neuronal portraits. Analyzing current brain imaging techniques, I question the figurative nature of brain pictures and propose that the present onlooker should focus less on the widely discussed power of images and more on the performativity of visualization strategies. Brain imagers visibilize cerebral matter in the very sense that they make its performance visible thanks to the collaboration of humans’ and machines’ agencies. I take an enactive approach to describing a new scopic regime that I term "cyborg", based on which we can start to provide a fresh understanding of visual cognitive agency.