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

了解人脑的功能是一项非常具有挑战性但至关重要的任务。为了促进对大脑功能的了解，脑电(EEG)、功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和功能近红外光谱(FNIRS)等开创性技术已被广泛应用于神经成像实验。围绕这类神经成像研究，研究人员确定了最佳和有效的实验设计，以使研究人员能够收集信息数据，以对人脑功能进行准确和有效的统计推断。具体地说，研究人员将发展基础理论，为功能磁共振研究选择最佳设计提供见解和指导。他还将开发高效的计算工具，利用复杂的实验设置和/或先进的统计分析方法，为现代功能磁共振实验获得设计。我们会考虑各种实际情况。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)血液动力学响应函数，其模拟对象对短暂的精神刺激的大脑活动，可以随着时间的推移而变化；以及(Iii)考虑灵活的统计方法，如半参数和非参数方法，以更好地解释相当复杂的神经成像数据。除了广泛使用的功能磁共振成像外，研究人员还将利用其他一些开创性的脑成像技术，如EEG和fNIRS，为实验获得和研究高质量的设计。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。他们将通过促进使用开创性的大脑成像技术来促进对一些可怕的大脑疾病(如阿尔茨海默病)的了解，以及关于我们学习、记忆和做出决定时大脑是如何工作的，从而使社会受益。为了进一步扩大研究的影响，研究人员将为研究人员和从业者提供免费、用户友好的软件包，以便轻松获得高质量的神经成像实验设计。此外，还将开发新的实验设计课程。这些课程将帮助学生获得关于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.