REAL TIME IMAGING OF MENTAL ACTIVITY

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): The investigators propose to develop software tools for fMRI data analysis that can be used easily and will provide much more reliable data. Further, using algorithms already developed and validated, they will produce fMRI activation maps in real-time at the full 10 image/sec frame rate of the fastest MR scanners. Their tools will detect, and correct in real-time, the most common imaging artifacts. By using a powerful set of methods inherited from the study of linear systems, the investigators are able to calculate activation maps of events with essentially arbitrary timing, so that events that are transient (e.g., epileptiform spikes) or otherwise beyond experimenter control (cluster headaches, seizures, response time data, etc) can be readily captured and mapped, adding considerable freedom to experimental designs. Because the technique will provide immediate feedback, it will be practical for the researcher or clinician to modify the study protocols based on current results, enabling an interactive brain mapping examination. The subject's own activation maps may be presented to him or her, while imaging, allowing a previously impossible class of feed back experiments. In order to make these tools available widely to the MRI user community, the investigators' tools will run, in real-time, on inexpensive (< $2000) desktop computer systems that are well within the means of most imaging centers. This work builds on considerable experience in designing, developing and characterizing high performance MR systems and takes particular advantage of the performance of their unique 3 Tesla functional imager. The investigators have already implemented the real-time technology in prototype. The focus of the continued development will be on extending the basic capabilities and in packaging the data analysis tools and disseminating them to other researchers and institutions.