Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is undoubtedly one of the most common techniques used in the cognitive neurosciences and neuroeconomics. The methods section of fMRI papers are oftentimes filled with jargon. We hope to clarify this jargon by defining and explaining the most fundamental concepts. The present chapter has been written to target a broad audience of scholars and students and explains the principles of fMRI: The reader will learn what signals are measured in fMRI, how this measure relates to neural activity, and how fMRI data are most commonly analyzed. This includes a brief summary of physical, physiological, and statistical ideas. We further present a comprehensive step by step guide through a typical fMRI data analysis to provide scholars and students with the appropriate knowledge to understand basic fMRI methodology in research papers and to judge whether the presented analysis is meaningful and appropriately protected against the most common pitfalls in the field of neuroimaging.