Robust Correction for the Effects of Head Motion on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain Activity

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***Although functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is widely used as a neuroscience research tool to measure and understand brain activity, sensitivity to head motion poses a major problem. Even millimetre head motions can disrupt fMRI maps of brain activity in complex ways. Young adults can usually remain sufficiently still, but other populations such as children, the elderly, and people with impaired brain function often find it very difficult. In such cases, the fMRI data are often discarded. The head motion problem is thus a barrier to expanding use of fMRI in basic and clinical neuroscience research.******This proposal builds on numerous contributions previously made in the Graham laboratory to reduce the sensitivity of fMRI to head motion. The main idea of the current research involves measuring head movements during fMRI, and using these measurements to make corrections for motions and other signal errors in "real-time" (right at the time the images are formed). There are three specific objectives: ***1. To develop and validate a novel system for tracking head position during fMRI that overcomes the limitations of existing approaches;***2. To use this system in the development of comprehensive methods to correct for the numerous effects of head motion and other sources of error in real time; and***3. To demonstrate the benefits of this new technology in an fMRI application where head motion is particularly troublesome: the study of the brain activity associated with language tasks that involve spoken words.******On completing these objectives, new technology will have been created that can be commercialized and sold; that can be easily used by neuroscience researchers; and that will enable expanded fMRI applications in neuroscience .***********