A practical and theoretical introduction into fMRI

Date and Venue: June 30th, July 1st and 2nd 2010, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

The course
This three-day course is intended for researchers planning to enter the field of functional MRI, is organized by seven researchers from Utrecht and Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and takes place at Utrecht University. We offer a theoretical introduction into fMRI acquisition, study design, and image analysis. Additionally, a large part of the course will consist of practical data analysis sessions using SPM8, supervised by all participating teachers. The course and the practicals are all presented in English.

Expected background of participants
The intended audience has a background in neuroscience, biology, psychology, physics, medicine, or a related field. No experience in fMRI analysis is required. Suggestions for how to prepare can be found here.

FENS satellite
This course is organized as a satellite symposium to the FENS 2010 conference in Amsterdam. It will be held directly preceding the FENS meeting, e.g. from June 30, 2010, to July 2, 2010, at Utrecht University, and is organized in a joint effort by researchers from the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience (University Medical Center Utrecht), the Helmholtz Institute (Utrecht University), and the Donders Institute (Radboud University Nijmegen). Utrecht is a convenient 30 min train ride from Amsterdam, so the course can be commuted from your FENS accomodation in Amsterdam.

Theoretical Lectures
The course will feature a series of theoretical lectures in the mornings that together cover all the basics of fMRI. Topics covered will include basic MR physics and image acquisition, (spatial) pre-processing of (f)MRI data, design and modeling using General Linear Models, and statistical inferential procedures. These lectures will provide students with the theoretical background knowledge required to complete the practical sessions.

Practical Sessions
Afternoons are reserved for highly interactive practical sessions, where students will acquire hands-on experience in data-analysis using SPM8. Five different datasets will be provided that together cover a wide range of acquisition techniques, experimental designs, and statistical methods. The assignments will range from easy walk-throughs for beginners to challenging brainteasers for the most ambitious students. SPM8 is developed and maintained at the department of Prof. Dr. Karl Friston from the Functional Imaging Laboratory (The Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London) and they kindly provide access to the open-source package on their website for everyone to use.

Guest Lectures
On Friday afternoon two additional lectures will be given by experts in more advanced topics that will provide a nice overview of cutting-edge methods within this rapidly developing field. We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. John-Dylan Haynes of the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin will be one of our guest speakers. He will talk about an exciting application of functional MRI that he has pioneered: decoding of mental states from brain activity using multivariate techniques. In other words: can we use fMRI to determine what someone is thinking? Our other guest speaker is Dr. Hanneke den Ouden, formerly affiliated to the FIL in London and currently at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in Nijmegen. She will explain the basics of studying effective connectivity through modeling of dynamic interactions between brain regions.

For the full course programme, click here.

Participation and registration
The maximum number of participants is limited to about 50 due to constraints in available the equipment for the practical sessions. Online registration is possible here. The course fee amounts to € 350,-.
 
Warm regards,
 
The organizing committee

• S.F.W. Neggers (chair 1)
  • UMC Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute, Dept of Psychiatry
• E.J. Hermans (chair 2)
  • Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior
• M. Vink
  • UMC Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute, Dept of Psychiatry
• M. van den Heuvel
  • UMC Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute, Dept of Psychiatry
• N.F. Ramsey
  • UMC Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute, Dept of Neurosurgery
• M.A.H.L.L. Raemaekers
  • Utrecht University, Helmholtz Institute, Functional Neurobiology
• D. Hermes
  • UMC Utrecht, Dept of Neurosurgery