Multi-modal brain imaging analysis method for brain modeling

提出的研究计划的主要目标是开发和改进脑成像分析方法。正电子发射断层扫描(PET)和功能磁共振成像(FMRI)等脑成像技术的出现极大地拓宽了我们对大脑功能的了解。例如，通过注射[18F]氟脱氧葡萄糖(FDG；PET最广泛使用的放射性示踪剂)，我们可以定位葡萄糖快速代谢的位置，这与受试者在特定条件下扫描时神经元的活动水平有关。虽然很有启发性，但典型的FDG-PET技术的局限性之一是不能对区域到区域的连接进行建模。换句话说，很难将大脑建模为一个网络，在这个网络中，遥远的大脑区域相互通信。

The primary goal of the proposed research program is to develop and improve the brain imaging analysis methods. The emergence of brain imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) significantly contributed to broadening our knowledge about how the brain functions. For example, with injection of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG; the most widely used radiotracer for PET), we can locate where glucose is rapidly metabolized which is related with the level of neuronal activity in particular conditions that the subject is scanned under. Although illuminating, one of the limitations of the typical FDG-PET technique is that one cannot model the region-to-region connectivity. In other words, it is difficult to model the brain as a network where distant brain regions are communicating with each other.