Stimulating and Recording Neuronal Activity During Traditional fMRI, and The Benefits When Doing This at “Zero” Echo Time
Overview
Dr. Ian Shih from the University of North Carolina (UNC) will begin this webinar by shedding light on the not always straightforward relationship between neuronal activity and hemodynamic responses. Shih will discuss techniques capable of stimulating and recording neuronal activity during EPI-based fMRI, including electrical deep brain stimulation, optogenetics, electrophysiology, fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, and optical fiber photometry, and share an example using these tools to study neurovascular coupling. The second half of the webinar will be led by rising scientist Martin MacKinnon also from UNC, who recently won the Bruker Award, which Bruker announced during the ISMRM. MacKinnon will introduce the method to acquire fMRI data at “zero” echo time and discuss its advantages over traditional fMRI techniques.
This webinar took place on November 12th, 2020
Who to Expect
This webinar will discuss neuromodulation and recording techniques that can be performed simultaneously with fMRI and demonstrate how these tools can be used to address a specific research question related to neurovascular coupling. Additionally, fMRI using zero echo time will be introduced and its strengths for fMRI applications will be demonstrated.
Who Should Attend?
This webinar is of interest to researchers wishing to solidify their knowledge about recording and stimulating neuronal activity during fMRI as well as those interested in conscious imaging, avoiding anesthesia confounds, reducing imaging distortion, and improving detection sensitivity.
Dr. Ian Shih
Director of the Center for Animal MRI (CAMRI) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Martin J. MacKinnon
PhD Student University of North Carolina
