This chapter examines intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG), a rare but powerful technique offering unparalleled insights into human brain function by recording electrical activity directly from the brain’s surface. It traces iEEG’s development from pioneering work by Penfield and Jasper in the 1950s to modern applications with up to 1,024 recording channels. The chapter outlines the two primary surgical approaches, stereo EEG with depth electrodes and electrocorticography with surface grids, and explains how these techniques achieve both high temporal (millisecond) and spatial (millimeter) resolution by bypassing the signal-dampening effects of skull and scalp. Particular attention is given to high-gamma-power signals (70–200 Hz), which reflect neuronal firing with exceptional signal-to-noise ratios. The chapter addresses methodological considerations including electrode localization, signal processing, and data interpretation challenges unique to recording from epilepsy patients. It balances discussion of iEEG’s remarkable advantages, such as direct access to neuronal activity across cortical layers and network nodes along with its limitations, including restricted accessibility, sparse sampling, and the clinical constraints that dictate electrode placement. The ethical framework governing this invasive research methodology is emphasized throughout.

Chapter 6 centres clinical psychologists’ perspectives on and responses to ‘did not attend’ (DNA) policies. Patient non-attendance at clinical appointments has long been regarded as a key issue of concern within healthcare, and particularly so in light of pressures and targets to see more patients and more quickly. DNA policies are also an object of often latent concern by professionals and patients in relation to how they ostensibly improve access for some people through the potentially strategic exclusion of others. I analyse how clinical psychologists account for and navigate such policies, exploring how (in)formal rules around attendance can prompt the involuntary discharge of patients. DNA policies often provide space for clinical discretion, and are even sometimes elided by practitioners. Their negotiations can involve highly moralised configurations of both patient and professional subjectivities. These contribute to legitimising exclusion from services, as well as the expertise leveraged to do so.

Chapter 5 examines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a transformative neuroimaging technique that maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation. The chapter traces fMRI’s development from Angelo Mosso’s 19th-century observations of blood-flow changes during neural activity to Seiji Ogawa’s pioneering work with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast in the 1990s. It discusses the neurophysiological basis of the BOLD signal and how increased neural activity triggers disproportionate increases in cerebral blood flow relative to oxygen metabolism, creating measurable magnetic susceptibility differences. The text analyzes the temporal profile of the hemodynamic response, with its characteristic delay, peak, and undershoot, emphasizing its implications for experimental design. Considerable attention is given to the methodological complexities of fMRI research: preprocessing steps (slice-timing correction, motion correction, coregistration), statistical analysis approaches (including voxel-wise comparisons and region-of-interest analyses), and techniques for examining functional connectivity between brain regions. By evaluating fMRI’s comparative advantages, which is exceptional spatial precision and its noninvasive nature, alongside its limitations in temporal resolution and indirect measurement of neural activity, the chapter discusses fMRI as a powerful, albeit technically demanding, tool that provides unique insights into functional brain organization while requiring rigorous experimental design and statistical analysis.

Chapter 6 includes a summary, discussion of contributions, and avenues for future research. The summary discusses findings while incorporating insights obtained from qualitative elite interviews that I conducted in the British context. Conversations with politicians revealed interesting observations that support and shed further light on the motivation, theoretical expectations, and findings of the book. In particular, they revealed that moral rhetoric is a crucial type of communicative frame that should be used to expand the coalition of voters to which a party speaks. As to contributions, I discuss the significance of the book for studies of comparative party politics, political behavior, and moral psychology. Regarding next directions, I discuss the wide variety of topics that future work could investigate. For example: How does moral rhetoric interact with other aspects of party politics like the clarity with which parties deliver their positions to voters? What are the consequences of moral-representational (mis)alignment between what voters want and what parties provide? How different is the role of moral rhetoric in new democracies and authoritarian contexts?

The chapter examines how moral rhetoric is used in party communication using dictionary-based text analysis of party manifestos. The main data include 158 manifestos from six English-speaking democracies (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States) across thirty-four elections. I first measure moral rhetoric in the aggregate. The measure captures the overall level of moral rhetoric used by a party in its campaign. I show that there is variation in moral rhetoric across countries and within countries. I also show the validity of the measurement approach and its robustness to alternatives. Overall, we learn that moral rhetoric is a distinct aspect of party messaging. I then explore patterns in more disaggregate measures of moral rhetoric. Analyses reveal that there are more commonalities in the ways that parties use moral rhetoric than one might expect. Building on the framework of the Moral Foundations Theory, I find that differences in the moral palettes of the left and the right that we can expect based on prior work are more nuanced and not as stark when we examine specific moral foundations separately and when we examine appeals at the level of issues.

Chapter 4 examines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a cornerstone technology for visualizing brain structure with remarkable precision. The chapter traces MRI’s development from Wolfgang Pauli’s discovery of nuclear spin properties through Nobel Prize-winning innovations by Bloch, Purcell, Lauterbur, and Mansfield that enabled spatial encoding of magnetic resonance signals. It explains the physical principles underlying MRI and how powerful magnetic fields align hydrogen atoms in tissue, followed by precisely tuned radiofrequency pulses that excite these atoms, resulting in detectable signals that vary by tissue composition. The text explores technical considerations essential for high-quality image acquisition, including magnetic field strength, head coil design, and pulse sequence parameters that determine tissue contrast in T1, T2, and FLAIR imaging. Considerable attention is given to image processing methods, distortion correction, registration, normalization, segmentation, and smoothing that prepare brain images for meaningful analysis. By assessing MRI’s comparative advantages over other structural imaging modalities, including its non-ionizing radiation profile and superior tissue differentiation, alongside practical considerations of safety protocols and experimental design, the chapter discusses MRI’s foundational role in modern neuroimaging while acknowledging the tradeoffs between spatial resolution, acquisition time, and signal quality that researchers must navigate when designing studies.

The chapter motivates the topic of moral rhetoric by highlighting its relevance for how voters experience politics in everyday life. This leads to the question explored in the book: What role does moral rhetoric play in party politics? The chapter defines moral rhetoric as argumentation that frames political positions into moral views about right and wrong. Moral rhetoric can be used to frame views about specific policy issues (e.g., the economy, immigration) and more general political matters (e.g., the immorality of rival parties). Moral rhetoric contrasts with pragmatic, consequentialist rhetoric. To further illustrate, I present a series of examples of moral rhetoric used by parties and politicians in advanced democracies. Then I explain the research approaches of the book, such as use of the Moral Foundations Theory and geographic focus on Western democracies. The chapter ends with an outline of the rest of the book. The book examines the role of moral rhetoric in party politics in three parts: (1) whether and how moral rhetoric is a distinct aspect of political communication, (2) what effects it has on voters, and (3) its significance for democratic representation.

Chapter 14 allows us a look at the trajectories in brain imaging technology and research while acknowledging the field’s unpredictable evolution. It examines how existing tools are being refined, with functional MRI achieving submillimeter resolution and EEG sampling rates reaching 100,000 Hz, while highlighting the growing influence of private industry through initiatives like Neuralink, Facebook’s Building 8, and Google Brain. The chapter analyzes the scientific value of multimodal imaging approaches that combine complementary techniques such as EEG-fMRI to leverage both high temporal and spatial resolution. It discusses how large-scale collaborative efforts including the Human Connectome Project and Brain Initiative are reshaping our understanding of neural connectivity despite the challenges of modeling the brain’s extraordinary complexity. The emergence of biomarkers receives particular attention, emphasizing how machine learning algorithms are enhancing our ability to detect neurological and psychiatric conditions through brain imaging data. Recent technological innovations are surveyed, including miniaturized MRI scanners, real-time imaging analysis, optically pumped magnetometry, and functional ultrasound imaging, all pointing toward more accessible and sophisticated brain measurement capabilities. The chapter concludes with practical guidance for newcomers to the field and consideration of ethical dimensions, emphasizing that brain imaging technologies should advance human wellbeing rather than enable control or manipulation. Throughout, the chapter maintains that while specific trajectories remain uncertain, the overall direction is toward increasingly precise, accessible, and clinically valuable brain imaging technologies.

In Chapter 5, I move to consider some of the challenges of waiting lists and associated targets that configure clinical psychology. Taking the position that targets operate as what Nikolas Rose calls a ‘technology of government’, the chapter indicates some of the affective and material consequences of their instantiation. In particular, I show how clinical psychologists rework processes of entry into therapy, and the aims and character of care, in order to meet – and sometimes accommodate – targets. While professional autonomy is often regarded as being constrained through these technologies of government, practitioners nevertheless find ways of performing autonomous action in a matter that can advantage some patients over others. I illuminate how shifts in psychological care in response to targets could recast clinical psychologists’ relationships to their work and with patients, with implications for the subjectivities that are (not) assembled through therapy.

Chapter 12 examines the methodological foundations for conducting effective brain imaging research, positioning experimental design as the cornerstone of meaningful neuroscientific inquiry. It outlines a systematic approach to developing experiments, beginning with the essential groundwork of literature review and theoretical development before proceeding to stimulus creation and experimental implementation. The chapter emphasizes the critical balance between simplicity and complexity in design, advocating for well-controlled paradigms that isolate specific cognitive processes while acknowledging the brain’s inherent complexity. Particular attention is given to the technical considerations unique to different imaging modalities, addressing how fMRI’s hemodynamic response requires different design considerations than EEG’s direct measurement of neural activity. The chapter explores the philosophical challenges of constructing appropriate control conditions that effectively isolate the cognitive processes of interest, comparing cognitive subtraction approaches with factorial designs that reveal interaction effects. It emphasizes the importance of piloting experiments to identify potential confounds like expectancy bias and the role of jittered intertrial intervals in minimizing such effects. Throughout, the chapter underscores that experimental design in neuroimaging requires interdisciplinary expertise: understanding of brain anatomy and physiology, mastery of imaging technology, and sophisticated experimental psychology skills to translate abstract cognitive concepts into operationalizable experimental paradigms.