summary The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has given a new impulse to human neuroscience research. Cognitive functions are rapidly mapped onto brain structures, and hypotheses about the functions of structures are tested. Research on the neurobiological basis of schizophrenia utilizes these developments, and focuses on cognitive functions. In this paper the principles of fMRI are outlined. The implications of functional neuroimaging are discussed, presenting recent findings in schizophrenic patients in the areas of information processing, cognitive inhibition and auditory hallucinations. fMRI is expected to contribute to changes in the way we think about the organisation of brain functions, and to the process of associating genes, functions and psychiatric syndromes with one another.