Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Winter Term 2022
Class Meeting Times: Mon., Wed., Fri. 1:00 – 2:30pm ONLINE
Course Instructor: Jeremy Purcell, PhD
Email: jpurcel8@umd.edu
Office: Biology/Psychology Building 0125D
Course Instructor: Jeremy Purcell, PhD
Email: jpurcel8@umd.edu
Office: Biology/Psychology Building 0125D
Prerequisites: PSYC 200, 300, and 202
Description: Neuroimaging provides a fascinating and versatile window into how the brain works. In this class I will introduce structural, and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) techniques used to study the brain basis of cognition. This course will be well-suited for the beginner who is merely curious as well as for the well-initiated who are eager to explorer further ways to study the mind via neuroimaging. This course will involve mandatory online classes 3 times a week over zoom that will entail a mix of lecture, discussion, and hands-on computer-based lab exercise. It will also be blended with pre-recorded tutorials, exercises, and projects to be completed outside of class meeting time.
By the end of the course students will have:
(1) Practical knowledge of how to work with MRI and fMRI data. Students will learn with hands on exercises and tutorials how to open brain files, navigate the brain, draw lesions in damaged brains, run basic functional connectivity analyses, and generate their own neuroimaging meta-analysis.
(2) An understanding of key turning points over the past 30 years of fMRI research such as studies localizing areas of the brain associated with specific categories (e.g., faces), demonstrations that the brain encodes information distributed across spatial patterns, and that there are connectivity based functional networks in the brain.
(3) A basic understanding of the pitfalls in interpreting and thinking about the utility of fMRI research. This will involve discussions of such contemporary topics such as its utility in the courtroom, the “reproducibility crisis”, practical utility of fMRI as a biomarker, and how the field is progressing to address such issues.
Dr. Purcell received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. He is an active cognitive neuroscientist working for the Maryland Neuroimaging Center at the University of Maryland. His primary research is to understand how the brain changes with new memory formation or memory loss, such as memories for written words or past events. He has worked extensively on developing novel ways to use fMRI to index and tracking neural changes associated with learning and memory. In his research program he works both with individuals with brain damage and with older individuals at risk for or actively undergoing cognitive decline. He is also interested in hands-on pedagogy approaches, and has developed numerous workshops and tutorials that involve exploring neuroimaging data.
By the end of the course students will have:
(1) Practical knowledge of how to work with MRI and fMRI data. Students will learn with hands on exercises and tutorials how to open brain files, navigate the brain, draw lesions in damaged brains, run basic functional connectivity analyses, and generate their own neuroimaging meta-analysis.
(2) An understanding of key turning points over the past 30 years of fMRI research such as studies localizing areas of the brain associated with specific categories (e.g., faces), demonstrations that the brain encodes information distributed across spatial patterns, and that there are connectivity based functional networks in the brain.
(3) A basic understanding of the pitfalls in interpreting and thinking about the utility of fMRI research. This will involve discussions of such contemporary topics such as its utility in the courtroom, the “reproducibility crisis”, practical utility of fMRI as a biomarker, and how the field is progressing to address such issues.
Dr. Purcell received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. He is an active cognitive neuroscientist working for the Maryland Neuroimaging Center at the University of Maryland. His primary research is to understand how the brain changes with new memory formation or memory loss, such as memories for written words or past events. He has worked extensively on developing novel ways to use fMRI to index and tracking neural changes associated with learning and memory. In his research program he works both with individuals with brain damage and with older individuals at risk for or actively undergoing cognitive decline. He is also interested in hands-on pedagogy approaches, and has developed numerous workshops and tutorials that involve exploring neuroimaging data.
