APA Advanced Training Institute in fMRI

American Psychological Association, Washington DC

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Provided by applicant): Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is an important new research technology that allows inquiry into the brain activities associated with a wide variety of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes. Major advances will occur as researchers continue to utilize fMRI to develop multi-level, integrative models of normal functioning and psychopathology. The theoretical and methodological expertise of psychological scientists will be crucial to the pace of progress. Although fMRI offers psychological scientists an exciting new tool to develop models of brain-behavior interactions across diverse substantive areas, opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to use it are limited. To foster development of the use of fMRI technology in psychological research, the Science Directorate at the American Psychological Association (APA) has initiated an Advanced Training Institute in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (ATI-fMRI). The Institute, to be conducted on-site at a major imaging center, will provide an introduction to fMRI at a sufficiently advanced level to enable researchers at different academic levels and with different research interests to incorporate it into their research programs. The curriculum will provide basic knowledge of the physics, biology, and mechanics underlying the imaging process, of special research design and data analysis considerations, and of practical issues related to incorporating imaging into a research program.