Laxer, Sam

English

Scholarship@Western

Western University Scholarship@Western Inspiring Minds – A Digital Collection of Western’s Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Inspiring Minds September 2023 Is Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging the Key to Finally Understanding how the Brain Works? Sam Laxer Western University, jlaxer2@uwo.ca Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/inspiringminds Citation of this paper: Laxer, Sam, "Is Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging the Key to Finally Understanding how the Brain Works?" (2023). Inspiring Minds – A Digital Collection of Western’s Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. 425. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/inspiringminds/425 One of the most widely used techniques to study brain function is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI works by detecting blood oxygenation that is known to change with nearby brain activity. Despite its wide usage and utility, using blood oxygenation as a surrogate for brain function is not always accurate as it can be affected by several other physiological factors. The goal of my research is to determine just how accurate this measure is. To accomplish this goal, an alternative technique that more directly measures brain activity, called fibre photometry, is used simultaneously with fMRI. By comparing the data acquired using both techniques, we can determine which situations fMRI provides an accurate measure of brain activity and when the techniques start to diverge. Knowing this will help researchers better interpret their fMRI data, and it will help design experiments that will make the most of this technique. 

Is Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging the Key to Finally Understanding how the Brain Works?

https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1515&context=inspiringminds

Is Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging the Key to Finally Understanding how the Brain Works?

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