Spotting speedy brain activity
Researchers have long understood that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful tool for understanding both brain structure and activity, but new research suggests it is a good deal more potent than they thought. Using ultra-fast MRI scans, a research team led by Laura Lewis, a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows, was able to track rapid oscillations in brain activity that before would have gone undetected, a development that could open the door to understanding fast-occurring cognitive processes that once appeared off-limits to scientists. The study is described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Jonathan Polimeni, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). “The thought most people had was there is no point in looking for faster brain activity with fMRI,” Lewis said. “Because fMRI measures brain activity very indirectly, by tracking blood oxygenation...