Improved MRI technique could be rapid enough to reveal decision-making and sensory mechanisms.
A standard fMRI technique measures brain activity indirectly, by tracking increases in blood flow in regions where neurons are suddenly consuming more oxygen. This signal, though, can lag behind neuronal activity by 1 second, which dampens time sensitivity — the speedy cells take mere milliseconds to send messages to one another.
It is not entirely clear what causes the DIANA response, however. When neurons send messages, they swell and the surrounding water molecules get rearranged. These water alterations might be picked up as a signal . Further experiments showed that the DIANA response was correlated with the time it took for ions to rush inside neurons, an event that changes their voltage, ultimately making them spike and send messages.
Ben Inglis, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, agrees. The signal could be an effect of blood circulation, he says, but ultimately, the source doesn’t matter because the response is so fast — and therefore useful.
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