Functional connectivity (FC) has been found to be altered in a wide range of otherwise indistinguishable disease states. The most common tool to non-invasively study the organization of brain-wide FC networks is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI relies on an indirect and indiscriminate measure of activity through the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast mechanism. By capturing fluctuations in the BOLD signal fMRI can detect distant synchronization between brain regions either at rest or during the performance of a specific task. These regions are inferred to be functionally connected and are thought to involve the synchrony of neuronal populations involved in a common function that are wired together through plasticity. Interpretation of FC networks derived from BOLD fMRI studies is currently limited by 1) the dependence of fMRI BOLD signals on hemodynamic changes as a proxy for neural activity and 2) a limited understanding of the mechanistic basis for FC in the context of behaviorally relevant longitudinal reorganizations. My long-term goal is to better understand the relationship between BOLD and neural activity in behaviorally relevant multi-regional circuits to advance brain network analysis. Once we know how both vascular and neural changes influence FC, the basis for network dysfunctions can be exploited with fMRI providing more robust fMRI-based disease detection.
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The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” -B.F. Skinner |