Designing studies
There are many important issues that need to be considered when designing an fMRI experiment, at many different levels.
General principles
DesignBasics - some ideas on asking the right kinds of scientific questions with fMRI
DesignEfficiency - considerations on how to construct an imaging experiment that has sufficient power
[http://imaging.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/methods/stimdatabases List of Databases] for stimulus selection, evaluation, and other tools
Choosing your MRI acquisition
You'll probably use our [:ImagingSequences:default MRI sequences]. However, you might want to use another protocol (for example, to change the number of slices) but you must discuss it with the Radiographers. If you're doing anything exotic, you should also contact the Physicists (Marta, Stefan or Rhodri).
Take a look at the first two talks in [:SpmMiniCourse2007:CBU SPM mini course] for (1) an overview of MRI physics, and (2) an overview of the biophysics of fMRI
[:UnderstandingFmri:Learning about the physics of fMRI]
Useful tips
[:TipsForDataAcquisition:Tips for data acquisition]
[:TipsForSuccessfulScanning:Tips for successful scanning]
For stimulus delivery on the CBU scanner see the MRI facility wiki pages - CbuStimulusDelivery
ScanProtocols - CBU defaut imaging protocols
[wiki:WritingStimulusDeliveryPrograms Writing stimulus delivery programs]
[wiki:ScannerSync Using scanner sync] to synchronise your stimulus delivery program with the scanner
[:TransformingVisualAngleAndPixelSize:Transforming stimulus size in pixels to/from visual angle in degrees]. Useful for matching stimulus size between behavioural testing and the scanner.
Try the [:StudentForum:student forum for helpful tips]