Can functional brain imaging discover consciousness in the brain?

If we assume that consciousness is a natural biological phenomenon in the b rain, should we expect the current brain sensing and imaging methods to som ehow 'discover' consciousness? The answer depends on the following points: What kind of level of biological organization do we assume consciousness to be? What would count as the discovery of this level? What are the levels o f organization from which the currently available research instruments pick signals and acquire data? Single-cell recordings, PET fMRI, EEG and MEG pi ck different types of signals from different levels of organization in the brain. However it seems they do not manage to pick signals that would allow the direct visualization and reconstruction of the higher levels of electr ophysiological or,organization that are crucial for the empirical discovery and theoretical explanation of consciousness. The message of the present p aper is twofold: On the one hand, we should be aware of the practical limit ations of the currently available methods of cognitive neuroscience and not read too much into the images produced by them. On the other hand, the pre sent limitations could be overcome by more sophisticated methods in the fut ure. Therefore, contrary to what several philosophers have argued the empir ical discovery of consciousness in the brain is not impossible in principle .