What Is Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging?
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a specialized version of an MRI scan. Instead of focusing on just imaging the tissues of the brain, it also tracks the flow of blood to different areas, based on certain mental tasks being performed by the patient. This responsive blood flow is called hemodynamic activity. The availability of functional magnetic resonance imaging has increased greatly since the early 1990s, and it has come to be one of the more common forms of neuroimaging. It has long been known that changing areas of neural activity in the brain causes changes in blood flow through these areas. When nerve cells in the brain or anywhere else become active, they consume oxygen from the blood. Unlike muscle cells, they do not have nearby reserves of glucose and oxygen, and blood flow must immediately be modified to accommodate increased neural activity. This leads to localized areas of deoxygenated blood where the nerve activity took place, and these areas are what functio
MRI is a non-invasive technique (one that doesn’t use needles, drugs, or radioactivity). A large magnet takes pictures of the brain using magnetic field and radio-frequency energy. Very sensitive computers detect signals from various brain tissues, which appear as shades of grey, thereby making it possible to distinguish different structures of the brain. For our research, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity. This technique provides detailed maps of the brain areas underlying human mental activities. By using fMRI, we are able to see how the brain is functioning while a person is performing a specific task, such as reading. We are not only able to see differences in the structure of the brain, but can measure differences in brain function and activity as well. This information will ultimately be used to provide a basis for designing more effective interventions and methods for early identification of learning disabilities like dyslexia. We comp
MRI is a non-invasive technique (one that doesn’t use needles, drugs, or radioactivity). A large magnet detects signals from various brain tissues, which appear as shades of gray, thereby making it possible to distinguish different structures of the brain. For our research, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity. This technique provides detailed maps of the brain areas underlying numerous human mental activities. By using fMRI, we are able to see how the brain is functioning while a person is performing a specific task, such as reading. We are not only able to see differences in the structure of the brain, but can measure differences in brain function and activity as well. This information may provide important clues about the cause and treatments of a wide range of neurologic disorders.
