CAREER: New Developments on Experimental Designs for Pioneering Functional Brain Imaging Technologies

了解人类大脑的功能是一项非常具有挑战性但又至关重要的任务。为了提高对脑功能的认识，脑电图（EEG）、功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）等前沿技术已广泛应用于神经影像学实验。专注于这些神经影像学研究，研究者确定了最佳和有效的实验设计，使研究人员能够收集信息数据，以对人类大脑功能进行精确和有效的统计推断。具体而言，研究者将发展基础理论，为选择最佳设计的fMRI研究提供见解和指导。他还将开发高效的计算工具，以获得具有复杂实验设置和/或先进统计分析方法的现代功能磁共振成像实验的设计。将考虑各种实际情况。这些将包括以下情况：(i)在设计阶段需要考虑实验对象的概率行为；（ii）血流动力学反应函数（模拟受试者对短暂精神刺激的大脑活动）可以随时间变化；（iii）灵活的统计方法，如半参数和非参数方法，可以更好地解释相当复杂的神经成像数据。除了常用的功能磁共振成像，研究者将获得和研究高质量的实验设计，利用一些其他开拓性的脑映射技术，如脑电图和近红外光谱。研究结果将使研究人员能够选择实验设计，以提高研究大脑功能的神经成像实验的质量。它们将促进使用先进的大脑测绘技术，以增进对一些可怕的大脑疾病（如阿尔茨海默病）的了解，以及对大脑在我们学习、记忆和决策时如何工作的了解，从而造福社会。为了进一步扩大研究的影响，研究者将提供免费的、用户友好的软件包，供研究人员和从业人员轻松获得高质量的神经影像学实验设计。此外，还将开设新的实验设计课程。这些课程将帮助学生获得有关现代科学实验设计和分析的实用知识和技能。

Understanding functions of the human brain is a very challenging yet crucially important task. To advance knowledge about brain functions, pioneering technologies such as electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) have been widely used in neuroimaging experiments. Focusing on such neuroimaging studies, the investigator identifies optimal and efficient experimental designs to allow researchers to collect informative data for rendering precise and valid statistical inference on human brain functions. Specifically, the investigator will develop fundamental theories to provide insights and guidance on selecting optimal designs for fMRI studies. He will also develop efficient computational tools for obtaining designs for modern fMRI experiments with sophisticated experimental settings and/or advanced statistical analysis methods. Various practical situations will be considered. These will include cases where (i) the experimental subject's probabilistic behavior needs to be taken into account at the design stage; (ii) the hemodynamic response function, which models the subject's brain activity in response to a brief mental stimulus, can vary over time; and (iii) flexible statistical approaches such as semi- and non-parametric methods are considered for a better interpretation of the rather complex neuroimaging data. In addition to the popularly used fMRI, the investigator will obtain and study high-quality designs for experiments utilizing some other pioneering brain mapping techniques such as EEG and fNIRS. The research results will allow researchers to select experimental designs to improve the quality of neuroimaging experiments for studying brain functions. They will benefit society by facilitating the use of pioneering brain mapping technologies in advancing knowledge about some terrifying brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, and about how the brains work when we learn, remember and make decisions. To further broaden the impact of the research, the investigator will provide free, user-friendly software packages for researchers and practitioners to easily obtain high-quality neuroimaging experimental designs. In addition, new courses on design of experiments will be developed. These courses will help students to gain practically useful knowledge and skills on design and analysis of modern scientific experiments.