Marucs Raichle is known for his pioneering research in the development and use of imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography, to identify specific areas of the brain that are involved in tasks such as seeing, hearing, reading, and remembering, as well as emotion. This work has allowed researchers to study the living human brain and record its function in health and disease. In addition, he and his research team have analyzed chemical receptors in the brain, investigated the physiology of major depression and anxiety, and evaluated patients at risk for stroke. He has also played a pivotal role in the development of the “default mode network” to describe resting state brain function, a concept that has become a central theme in neuroscience.

He has received many honors, including election to the Institute of Medicine in 1991 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996. More recently, he has received the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research, the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology, and the Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize.