Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the scanning technique which allows the mapping of active processes within the brain. There are six sections to the book with chapters from an expert international team. Part I provides a broad overview of the field and sets the context. Part II describes the physiological and physical background to fMRI, including coverage of the hardware required and pulse sequence selection. Practical issues involving experimental design of the paradigms, psycho-physical stimulus delivery and subject response are covered in Part III, followed by a comprehensive treatment of data analysis in Part IV. Part V deals with practical applications of the technique in the field of neuroscience and in clinical practice. The final section describes how fMRI can be integrated with other neuro-electromagnetic functional mapping techniques. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: An Introduction to Methods is written to be accessible to a wide-ranging audience of research scientists interested in studying how the normal brain works, and clinicians interested in monitoring disease states and processes.

Table of Contents:
1. AN INTRODUCTION TO FMRI OF THE BRAIN; 2. BRAIN ENERGY METABOLISM AND THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF THE HAEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE; 3. Principles of nuclear magnetic resonance and MRI; 4. Ultra-fast MRI; 5. Hardware for functional MRI; 6. Selection of the optimal pulse sequence for functional MRI; 7. Spatial and temporal resolution in fMRI; 8. Quantitative measurement using fMRI; 9. EFFECTIVE PARADIGM DESIGN; 10. The scanner as a psychophysical laboratory; 11. OVERVIEW OF FMRI ANALYSIS; 12. Preparing fMRI data for statistical analysis; 13. Head motion and its correction; 14. Statistical analysis of activation images; 15. Registration, brain atlases and cortical flattening; 16. Extracting brain connectivity; 17. FMRI: APPLICATIONS IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE; 18. Clinical applications of mapping neurocognitive processes in the human brain with fMRI; 19. DYNAMIC FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING INTEGRATING MULTIPLE MODALITIES

Review :
The rapidly growing field of functional MR imaging research clearly needs a textbook like this one ... The book is well organized and easy to search; each chapter contains logical subsections. The quality of printing paper, figures and tables is consistently high, and the figures are helpful and often beautiful. The chapters succinctly cover basic MR imaging principles, biophysics, and technical matters that arise in functional MR imaging research. The chapter on how to use functional MR imaging to begin to understand effective connectivity is a masterpiece ... We recommend this text to a wide range of readers: to clinicians who desire a more than cursory review of this growing area; to novice researchers in this field ... and to experienced researchers who require a solid review and reference text on the state of the art of functional MR imaging. Radiology