Halai et al., (2014; 2015; 2024 preprint); Frisby et al., (in prep)
Signal Dropout: Conventional fMRI acquisitions often suffer from uneven signal sampling across the brain, particularly in regions with susceptibility-induced field inhomogeneities, such as the anterior temporal and orbitofrontal cortex.
Optimal Time to Sample Signal: Brain activity in fMRI is indirectly measured through changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin, affecting the transverse magnetization decay (T2*). The optimal echo time (TE) for sampling T2* varies across brain regions and individuals.
Multi-echo fMRI: Sampling the MRI signal at multiple echo times enhances sensitivity to brain activity and allows for the application of advanced post-processing denoising techniques.
Multi-band fMRI: Acquiring multiple slices simultaneously (multi-band acceleration) increases sampling frequency, improving statistical power, enhancing noise and event modelling, and accelerating multi-echo acquisitions.
Univariate and Multivariate Outcomes: Our research demonstrates that employing multi-echo and/or multi-band fMRI can improve the detection of brain activity across various analysis approaches.
