Experimental design and analysis in functional MRI

As the experimental diversity of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has grown since introduction of the technique in 1991, the appropriate application of statistical evaluation has become a significant research need. Advances in our understanding of both the dynamics of the underlying neurophysiology and the measurement process make fMRI a fertile ground for novel signal and image processing research. Recent analysis procedures seek to incorporate knowledge of the temporal and spatial characteristics of the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response measured by fMRI. Efforts that incorporate the nonstationary aspects of the BOLD response will become more important as future applications of fMRI are likely to be in conjunction with additional imaging modalities (e.g., fMRI combined with EEG) to acquire more complete physiologic data and permit greater refinement of our characterization of the central nervous system responses arising due to an applied stimulus.