EFFECTIVE CONNECTIVITY IN BRAIN IMAGING OF VISION

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案是在试点研究小额资助计划的支持下提交的，旨在寻求资金来开发、完善和验证分析技术，以推断前馈和反馈对多个视觉区域fMRI激活的相对贡献。具体来说，我们将使用非线性方程来模拟激活（使用功能性磁共振成像记录的血氧水平依赖信号），而人类观察者报告与观看双目竞争相关的视觉感知波动（即，由两只眼睛观看的两个不同图像之间的视觉感知变化）。这些分析技术已经在文献中描述过（Buchel & Friston, 1995），但很少用于视觉研究，尽管它们有可能显著扩展从脑成像研究中得出的结论的范围。鉴于功能磁共振成像在视觉及其障碍研究中的应用急剧增加，开发、完善和验证技术以扩展使用功能磁共振成像可以解决的问题范围是势在必行的。目前的提案具有这种潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal, submitted under the auspices of the program supporting Small Grants for Pilot Research, seeks funds to develop, refine and validate analytic techniques for inferring the relative contributions of feedforward and feedback contributions to fMRI activations in multiple visual areas. Specifically, we will use nonlinear equations to model activations (blood oxygen-level dependent signals registered using functional magnetic resonance imaging) measured while human observers report fluctuations in visual perception associated with viewing binocular rivalry (i.e., the alternations in visual awareness between two dissimilar images viewed by the separate eyes). These analytic techniques have been described in the literature (Buchel & Friston, 1995) but have been rarely employed in studies of vision, despite their potential for significantly extending the range of conclusions drawn from brain imaging studies. Given the dramatic increase in the use of fMRI for the study of vision and its disorders, it is imperative to develop, refine and validate techniques that extend the range of problems that can be addressed using fMRI. The present proposal has this potential.