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

虽然功能磁共振成像（fMRI）作为一种神经科学研究工具被广泛用于测量和理解大脑活动，但对头部运动的敏感性是一个主要问题。即使是毫米级的头部运动也会以复杂的方式干扰fMRI的大脑活动图。年轻人通常可以保持足够的静止，但其他人群，如儿童、老年人和脑功能受损的人往往很难做到这一点。在这种情况下，fMRI数据通常被丢弃。因此，头部运动问题是fMRI在基础和临床神经科学研究中扩大使用的一个障碍。

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 .