An Examination of the Effect of Increasingly Complex Visual Stimuli on Brain State and Activity
Session Number
Q15
Advisor(s)
Todd Parrish, Northwestern University
Location
A-123
Start Date
28-4-2016 9:50 AM
End Date
28-4-2016 10:15 AM
Abstract
Our brains are arguably the most crucial organ in our body, comprehending what we see and sense. Yet for the great majority of human history, it has been incredibly difficult to look into it and perceive exactly what is happening. This has changed with the invention and popularity of the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine; using fMRI, researchers are able to examine the brain spatially and concisely while subjecting the patient to a variety of stimuli. This investigation studied the response and activity recorded in the brains of subjects to a short video played while they were scanned in a fMRI machine. The video goes through several stages of complexity, starting from almost no visual stimuli and working up to a dynamic animation. The data from each scan was cleaned and processed with computer software, and then different regions of the brain were tested for correlation. In the end, my results show that some regions of the brain consistently change correlation depending on the stimuli shown, as different visuals will trigger different areas of the brain.
An Examination of the Effect of Increasingly Complex Visual Stimuli on Brain State and Activity
A-123
Our brains are arguably the most crucial organ in our body, comprehending what we see and sense. Yet for the great majority of human history, it has been incredibly difficult to look into it and perceive exactly what is happening. This has changed with the invention and popularity of the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine; using fMRI, researchers are able to examine the brain spatially and concisely while subjecting the patient to a variety of stimuli. This investigation studied the response and activity recorded in the brains of subjects to a short video played while they were scanned in a fMRI machine. The video goes through several stages of complexity, starting from almost no visual stimuli and working up to a dynamic animation. The data from each scan was cleaned and processed with computer software, and then different regions of the brain were tested for correlation. In the end, my results show that some regions of the brain consistently change correlation depending on the stimuli shown, as different visuals will trigger different areas of the brain.