Control of Attention in the human brain studied with real-time fMRI

通过实时功能磁共振成像研究人脑注意力控制

• 批准号: MC_EX_G0802357
• 负责人: Jinendra Ekanayake
• 金额: $ 28.54万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2009 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MC_EX_G0802357
• 关键词: Control; Attention; human; brain; studied

We can selectively attend to particular locations or features in our environment even when our gaze is kept fixed, by moving our focus of attention. This is accompanied by changes in signals recorded from the visual brain, but whether and how they alter visual perception and processing is poorly understood. Here I will exploit a new development in functional brain imaging known as real-time functional MRI. Functional MRI allows non-invasive recording of neural processing in the human brain, but typically requires many hours of processing. With real-time fMRI I can now record and immediately feedback brain signals to the subject who is being scanned. I will use this to teach subjects to voluntarily control activity in particular regions of the visual brain. By doing this I can test whether such changes in activity in visual cortex also change perception and processing of visual information, establishing a causal relationship. Moreover, I will also investigate how such real-time decoding of attention might be used to provide information about where a subject wishes to look or act on the environment, through thought alone. Such signals could potentially be used to control a 'neural prosthesis' in patients paralysed as a result of neurological disease.

即使我们的视线保持固定，我们也可以通过移动注意力焦点来选择性地关注环境中的特定位置或特征。这伴随着视觉大脑记录的信号的变化，但它们是否以及如何改变视觉感知和处理却知之甚少。在这里，我将利用功能性脑成像的一项新发展，即实时功能性 MRI。功能性 MRI 可以对人脑中的神经处理过程进行非侵入性记录，但通常需要数小时的处理时间。借助实时功能磁共振成像，我现在可以记录大脑信号并将其立即反馈给正在扫描的受试者。我将用它来教导受试者自愿控制视觉大脑特定区域的活动。通过这样做，我可以测试视觉皮层活动的这种变化是否也会改变视觉信息的感知和处理，从而建立因果关系。此外，我还将研究如何使用这种实时解码注意力来提供有关主体希望在环境中观察或对环境采取行动的信息，仅通过思考。这些信号有可能用于控制因神经系统疾病而瘫痪的患者的“神经假体”。