Tracking cognitive processes with functional MRI mental chronometry.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used widely to determine the spatial layout of brain activation associated with specific cognitive tasks at a spatial scale of millimeters. Recent methodological improvements have made it possible to determine the latency and temporal structure of the activation at a temporal scale of few hundreds of milliseconds. Despite the sluggishness of the hemodynamic response, fMRI can detect a cascade of neural activations - the signature of a sequence of cognitive processes. Decomposing the processing into stages is greatly aided by measuring intermediate responses. By combining event-related fMRI and behavioral measurement in experiment and analysis, trial-by-trial temporal links can be established between cognition and its neural substrate.
Formisano
Elia
E
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, Postbus 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. e.formisano@psychology.unimass.nl
Goebel
Rainer
R
D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods