University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0515, USA. sereno@cogsci.ucsd.edu Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map cortical areas in humans have revealed many similarities with recent cortical mapping studies from nonhuman primates as well as some striking differences. Improved methods for analyzing, displaying and averaging fMRI data on an unfolded cortical surface atlas are poised to improve the integration of information across burgeoning numbers of imaging studies. By combining fMRI with electrical and passive magnetic imaging modalities, the millisecond-to-millisecond sequence of activation of different cortical regions elicited by an event can be imaged, provided the regions are sufficiently far apart.