Training in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to continue to offer an annual two-week short course on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at the University of Michigan in August of each year. This course is fully the same as a semester-length course, but is offered at a convenient time and in a compact format that readily fits into the schedules of graduate students, medical residents, post docs, and faculty. The curriculum covers the physics of MRI and fMRI, coverage of data acquisition, a detailed presentation of issues having to do with experimental design, and substantial coverage of data analysis and interpretation. Students will get the opportunity to design an experiment, acquire data, and analyze those data. The proposed short course will be open to undergraduate and graduate students, post doctoral fellows, faculty, and medical residents. Via the proposed grant, we shall invite 25 attendees from outside the University of Michigan, selected by an admissions committee after extensive recruitment of applicants. The grant will cover travel and subsistence, with no tuition for the course. There is a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the course immediately after it is complete, as well as an evaluation 8 months later to assess how well attendees have been able to integrate the contents of the course into their research agendas. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain processes is an increasingly important diagnostic and research tool for medical and biomedical uses. As a research tool, its use has exploded as more and more is learned about the processing of cognitive and emotional and social and economic information by the brain. Training students, medical residents, post doctoral fellows, and faculty in the proper use of functional MRI via a convenient short course that can fit into their busy schedules will provide a fundamental contribution to the human infrastructure necessary to expand the use of this valuable tool.