Brain activity during human thought imaged for first time

Scientists have for the first time successfully tracked human thought by imaging rapidly fluctuating brain activity using fast fMRI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated with higher order brain functions.

The new discovery that fast fMRI can detect rapid brain oscillations is a significant step towards realising a central goal of neuroscience research: mapping the brain networks responsible for human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.