Detecting cortical activities from fMRI data using the STAP algorithm

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP), previously developed in the field of sensor array processing and applied to radar signal processing, is adapted here for use in the construction of brain activation maps in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Because STAP processes space-time data as a single spatiotemporal set, it offers potential advantage over currently available methods in providing a measure of the full spatiotemporal extent of a task-related activity. Unlike presently used fMRI techniques, STAP locates activated regions both spatially and in frequency. Computer simulations incorporating actual MRI noise indicate that it exhibits a high degree of accuracy in detecting the small signal intensity changes inherent in fMRI.