Category: fMRI

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Brain fMRI

Advanced imaging modalities map neural connections

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/a-wiring-diagram-of-the-brain

Images of 68 brains from the Human Connectome Project recently became available. The process was powered by highly advanced brain scanning hardware and state of the art image processing and analysis software.

To provide multiple perspectives on each brain, researchers employed several methods:

1. MRI scans provided basic structural images of the brain, providing very high resolution images of the convoluted folds of the cerebral cortex.

2. fMRI scans detected blood flow throughout the brain and showed brain activity for subjects both at rest and engaged in seven different tasks (including language, working memory, and gambling exercises).

3. Diffusion MRI tracked the movement of water molecules within brain fibers. Because water diffuses more rapidly along the length of the fibers that connect neurons than across them, this technique allows researchers to directly trace connections between sections of the brain.

Each imaging modality has its limitations, so combining them gives neuroscientists the best view of how the brain works.  The data was purged of noise and artifacts, and then organized into a database.

Categories
Brain fMRI

Real-time brain feedback for anxiety disorders

http://news.yale.edu/2013/05/07/research-news-real-time-brain-feedback-can-help-people-overcome-anxiety

fMRI-driven neurofeedback has been used in various contexts, but never applied to the treatment of anxiety.

Yale University researchers used fMRI to display the activity of the orbitofrontal cortex, a brain region just above the eyes, to subjects in real time.  Through a process of trial and error, the subjects learned to control their brain activity.  This neurofeedback led to changes in brain connectivity and increased control over anxiety.  The changes were still present several days after the exercise.

Categories
Brain fMRI

fMRI differentiates physical from emotional pain

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-sci-pain-measure-fmri-20130409,0,5200467.story

A group of scientists at the University of Michigan have succeeded in using functional magnetic resonance imaging to tease apart the brain’s consistent response to physical pain from its very similar response to emotional pain. The result is a moving picture of physical pain that allowed the researchers to predict with remarkable accuracy whether the individual whose brain they were watching was experiencing intense physical pain, the sensation of a warm spot on his arm, or the sting of social rejection.

Categories
Brain fMRI Sensors

Researchers explain the goals of a new brain-mapping project

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/512141/the-brain-activity-map/

A proposed effort to map brain activity on a large scale, expected to be announced by the White House later this month, could help neuroscientists understand the origins of cognition, perception, and other phenomena. These brain activities haven’t been well understood to date, in part because they arise from the interaction of large sets of neurons whose coordinated efforts scientists cannot currently track.

An article published Thursday in Science online expands the project’s already ambitious goals beyond just recording the activity of all individual neurons in a brain circuit simultaneously. Researchers should also  find ways to manipulate the neurons within those circuits and understand circuit function through new methods of data analysis and modeling.