Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows noninvasive imaging of hemodynamic changes related to neural activity. This technique can be used in single-subject designs and can provide millimeter spatial resolution and temporal resolution in the range of 5–10 sec. This paper provides a brief introduction to MRI techniques and their application to functional neuroimaging, focusing on methodological issues that are of particular concern to psychologists, including methods for presenting computerized stimuli to subjects without disrupting the scanner, experimental design issues, and statistical analysis and image processing procedures. To illustrate methodological issues, recent results from a series of studies looking at the topographic organization of visual cortex are presented. General issues concerning limitations in this technique, future directions in its development, its relationship to other neuroimaging techniques, and the role of functional neuroimaging in psychological research are addressed in the Discussion.
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This work was supported in part by the Pittsburgh NMR Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Carnegie Mellon University, NIMH Grant MH 47073, Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-91-J-1708, and Pew Foundation Grant T89-01245-14. The authors would like to thank Emmanuel Kanal and Bruce Rosen for their encouragement and guidance of the work reported in this paper, as well as B. J. Casey for her comments and suggestions concerning this manuscript.
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Cohen, J.D., Noll, D.C. & Schneider, W. Functional magnetic resonance imaging: Overview and methods for psychological research. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 25, 101–113 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204483
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204483