The project will provide an extendable open hardware/software solution for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of cortical activity. It will support functional imaging incorporating commercial products and university-developed tools to provide a reliable, documented, supported, and low-cost solution to adding fMRI to an existing MRI site. This project will involve developing: 1) robust fMRI paradigms for visual and working memory cortical activation; 2) hardware and software to allow single trial-based fMRI paradigms with millisecond timing resolution; 3) hardware and software to monitor and compensate for cardiac and respiration effects; 4) a protocol specification system to recommend pulse sequence parameters for fMRI studies; 5) an open architecture JAVA- based wrapper to connect fMRI analysis tools in one integrated, documented, user-extendable environment; 6) a computerized laboratory notebook system to organize and maintain analysis images, specifications and researcher commentaries; 7) a JAVA-based particle database management system to allow particle-based queries and summaries of fMRI results. Research will allow release of a commercial integrated system for fMRI by the end of the project. The widespread accessibility of these techniques will substantially speed our understanding of cortical function and facilitate research involved in understanding brain function and mental disorders.
This will provide an integrated system for brain imaging for research and clinical mapping. Anticipated benefits include cognitive assessment, brain mapping, treatment of brain disorders.
