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Debating the Meaning of fMRI - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

Debating the Meaning of fMRI - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences A three-dimensional magnetic resonance image of a macaque monkey head. Inset: A schematic of the combination of cortical field maps of tactile stimulation obtained using fMRI (red and green squares) and electrophysiological recording techniques (cross-hatched regions). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments are, no doubt, incredibly intriguing: Researchers put volunteers inside a huge, harmless magnet that takes detailed pictures of the brain, expose those people to some sort of sensory stimulus, see what regions of the brain light up, and try to draw some conclusions about brain activity. Such experiments have become increasingly popular in neuroscience and psychology since their advent in the early 1990s. They are more commonplace for basic research studies than costly, time-consuming experiments done with positron emission tomography (PET). Magnetic resonance machines have been used in everything from psychiatry studies investigating how the brain reacts as food is digested to social psychology studies asking how the brain responds to people of different races. Yet scientists using fMRI still cannot say for certain to what extent they are actually measuring neuronal activity. Strictly speaking, fMRI machines measure the level of oxygen in the blood through a technique called blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast. The two http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Scientist The Scientist

Debating the Meaning of fMRI - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

The Scientist , Volume 14 (18): 20 – Sep 18, 2000

Debating the Meaning of fMRI - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

The Scientist , Volume 14 (18): 20 – Sep 18, 2000

Abstract

A three-dimensional magnetic resonance image of a macaque monkey head. Inset: A schematic of the combination of cortical field maps of tactile stimulation obtained using fMRI (red and green squares) and electrophysiological recording techniques (cross-hatched regions). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments are, no doubt, incredibly intriguing: Researchers put volunteers inside a huge, harmless magnet that takes detailed pictures of the brain, expose those people to some sort of sensory stimulus, see what regions of the brain light up, and try to draw some conclusions about brain activity. Such experiments have become increasingly popular in neuroscience and psychology since their advent in the early 1990s. They are more commonplace for basic research studies than costly, time-consuming experiments done with positron emission tomography (PET). Magnetic resonance machines have been used in everything from psychiatry studies investigating how the brain reacts as food is digested to social psychology studies asking how the brain responds to people of different races. Yet scientists using fMRI still cannot say for certain to what extent they are actually measuring neuronal activity. Strictly speaking, fMRI machines measure the level of oxygen in the blood through a technique called blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast. The two

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Publisher
The Scientist
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© 1986-2010 The Scientist
ISSN
1759-796X
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Abstract

A three-dimensional magnetic resonance image of a macaque monkey head. Inset: A schematic of the combination of cortical field maps of tactile stimulation obtained using fMRI (red and green squares) and electrophysiological recording techniques (cross-hatched regions). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments are, no doubt, incredibly intriguing: Researchers put volunteers inside a huge, harmless magnet that takes detailed pictures of the brain, expose those people to some sort of sensory stimulus, see what regions of the brain light up, and try to draw some conclusions about brain activity. Such experiments have become increasingly popular in neuroscience and psychology since their advent in the early 1990s. They are more commonplace for basic research studies than costly, time-consuming experiments done with positron emission tomography (PET). Magnetic resonance machines have been used in everything from psychiatry studies investigating how the brain reacts as food is digested to social psychology studies asking how the brain responds to people of different races. Yet scientists using fMRI still cannot say for certain to what extent they are actually measuring neuronal activity. Strictly speaking, fMRI machines measure the level of oxygen in the blood through a technique called blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast. The two

Journal

The ScientistThe Scientist

Published: Sep 18, 2000

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