Development of functional MRI technology in the early 21st century using the example of the International Tomography Center of SB RAS

Abstract

The article deals with some areas of application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the International Tomography Center (ITC) of the SB RAS. The author offers a brief excursion into the history of the development of the method and its institutionalization. From the point of view of social significance, she characterizes ITC projects which include various aspects of the application of this neuroimaging technology used in the study of brain activity in norm and pathology. She shows the possibilities of fMRT in biocontrol, the process of development of self-regulation skills of the individual and in treatment with the technology of interactive neurotics developed in ITC. Functional magnetic resonance imaging is an in-vivo noninvasive dynamic study of active brain structures at the time of their activity, based on the difference in the magnetic properties of the oxyhemoglobin, the O2 carrier, and deoxy-hemoglobin, a product formed in the parenchyma of the brain. These ratios reflect the BOLD-phenomenon (blood oxygenation level dependent), a marker of neural activity. The main experimental models in fMRI determine the themes of research projects of the ITC SB RAS and concern three directions: biophysical modeling using sensorimotor paradigms; modeling and analysis of BOLD-effect in conditions of permanent and/or temporary disturbance of blood circulation of the brain associated with neurological diseases (strokes, convulsions, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, etc.); complex forms of behavior and analysis of their cognitive mechanisms. Studies using modern technologies of magnetic resonance imaging, including functional MRI, convincingly attest the priority position of the Center in the institutionalization of the fMRI method for Russian science in general and the regional Siberian aspect in particular. The main results obtained at the ITC SB RAS demonstrate the correspondence between the psychological, psychophysiological functions and the localization of the brain structures involved in the formation of various skills, expand and revise the fundamental concepts of the relationship between mental and physiological functions, allowing to dynamically " brain map" exact information about their localization. During the research, a significant step was taken in the development and implementation of the modern method of neuroimaging-fMRI in the fundamental science in the region, as well as in medical diagnostic practice. A software and hardware complex was developed for recording the activation of the central nervous system using the method of functional MRI based on the BOLD effect, which includes an MR tomograph, an installation for software generation of stimuli of own design and a software package for processing the results based on MATLAB. In the course of the work, all the variants of functional magnetic resonance imaging for the design of the experiments were optimized.