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First introduced in the 1990s, fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) is used to map the brain by providing 3D neuroimages showing areas of activity. The patient is placed in a tube-shaped machine that uses incredibly powerful electromagnets to scan the body and brain.
fMRI machine with a patient, Thomas Angus, Wikimedia Commons
In 1993, fMRI was mentioned less than 20 times in published articles. As a new technique, it developed rapidly, and by 2003 that number was about 1800 (Berman et al. 2006). There could be several reasons for this. We believe it was due to the novel and interesting methods scientists began to use to study the brain with fMRI and how they used this technique to determine the brain’s functions as a whole.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging detects changes in blood oxygenation in the brain, the flow of which brain activity affects. When an area of the brain is more active because the participant or patient being observed is doing something, such as working on a task, or because of damage, the brain blood flow will increase or decrease based on oxygen demand.
This process is referred to as hyperactivation (more) or hypoactivation (less). Hyperactivation can be detected on fMRI scans when areas of the brain are highlighted in red and hypoactivation is indicated by blue areas.
Haemoglobin supplies oxygen to neurons. When these neurons activate, the increased activity must be balanced by providing the necessary oxygen and blood flow to make this possible. Blood with a higher oxygen concentration is affected differently by magnetic fields than blood with lower oxygen content. The fMRI magnetic field can detect this when scanning the participant or patient. This is called the BOLD (Blood oxygenation level-dependent) signal or theory and is primarily responsible for how an fMRI identifies functional areas.
An fMRI will then map the activated areas using voxels (when creating a 3D image of the brain, a voxel unit represents a tiny portion of brain tissue in the image), producing neural images, as seen below. The highlighted areas are active parts of the brain, in this case, someone working on a memory task while sitting in the machine.
fMRI scan during working memory tasks, Wikimedia Commons
Interestingly, a participant or patient must not speak or otherwise communicate when thinking about a task or answering a question. They have to answer it internally to prevent the brain from activating in other areas. Suppose the participant answers a question about a memory task out loud. In that case, the motor cortex (getting the body and muscles to speak) and the language areas (Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas) could activate and deactivate, messing up the results.
If a participant is working on a memory task, but other brain areas are also ‘firing’ up, it would be nearly impossible to assign a function to one area of the brain with certainty. Furthermore, when analysing the results, it would be difficult to pinpoint areas suffering functional loss due to damage if other parts of the brain are also hyper activating and deactivating during a task.
A good example is a study by Downing et al. (2001) in which they used fMRI to assign a function to specific brain regions:
Similarly, Haxby et al. (2001) studied the architecture of the object visual pathway in the brain using fMRI:
By using this brain scanning technique to identify potential functional areas, we can say that certain behaviours could be due to these functional areas. We can assume that an area of the brain that ‘lights up’, so to speak, correlates with the actions and behaviours of the individual, especially if we are careful in our experiments of isolating specific stimuli.
So when someone is confronted with frightening visual stimuli and certain areas of the brain activate, such as the amygdala, we can see that area of the brain being associated with a particular response. The amygdala is where our fight-or-flight response begins. With techniques like this, we can determine this in certain situations and attribute a ‘fight-or-flight’ behaviour to the amygdala!
What are the advantages of functional magnetic resonance imaging? How about its weaknesses in studying the brain?
Non-invasive: An fMRI does not involve inserting anything into the brain or cutting open the head to look at the brain itself. It provides a view of the brain and its activities without invasive techniques.
Virtually no associated risks: Because fMRI does not require any of the invasive techniques mentioned above, it is already safer than those techniques. It also does not use radiation, used in other brain-scanning techniques such as the PET scan (positron emission tomography).
Clearly illustrates localisation: Neuroimages show clear areas of activity related to the patient’s or participant’s activity and are robust in studies that focus on examining a specific function, limiting confounding variables.
Helps prepare for surgery: If a patient needs surgery, fMRI is valuable beforehand to map areas needing attention to better prepare and navigate efficiently during surgery.
High spatial resolution: It provides a detailed image and is extremely accurate.
Expensive: Operating an fMRI machine is quite costly, both in training and the machine itself.
Stillness required: A participant or patient must remain still while scanning in the machine, severely limiting the type of research with this method. They cannot move, respond properly, or perform tasks that require movement, as this would compromise the results or make scanning impossible altogether.
Blood flow is difficult to interpret: Because an fMRI only detects changes in blood flow, it can only tell you if an area is active or not. It does not tell you why the neurone in question is activated, nor does it tell you anything beyond changes in blood flow. The neurone itself can be activated for various reasons, with different tiny functions controlled by the primary function. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the cause and effect.
Some areas also light up for multiple reasons. Certain areas of the brain are responsible for reactions that can be opposite, especially when it comes to emotional responses.
Low temporal resolution: there is a slight delay, usually about five seconds, before changes in blood flow and activity levels within a neurone are detected, so fMRI has a poor temporal resolution.
An fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) maps the brain, providing 3D neuroimages with areas of activity.
It detects blood flow changes within the brain (BOLD), which is a response to changes in activity levels due to functional needs and the increased demand for oxygen. An fMRI can then build a 3D image using voxels to show these changes, creating a neural image.
It provides highly detailed (high spatial resolution) brain images whilst being non-invasive and virtually risk-free. It is valuable before surgical purposes to map the brain and is good in assigning function to areas of the brain. However, it is expensive and has a low temporal resolution. Also, it isn’t easy to interpret the results as blood flow does not give much insight into a neurone beyond detecting if it’s activated or not. The patient also has to remain still, limiting the types of research with fMRI.
An EEG (electroencephalography) uses electrodes to detect electrical activity changes through the scalp. It can be used during tasks that require a patient to move, unlike an fMRI. An EEG has an excellent temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution.
It can detect and assign brain areas to a specific function; for instance, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are known as the language zones as they activate during speech and language production and comprehension. It can detect areas of damage and can map the brain quite accurately.
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