Syed Muhammad Anwar1, Greg Cook1,
Martyn Paley2
1Electronic and Electrical Engineering,
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; 2Academic
Radiology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Direct
neuronal detection (DND) of nerve impulses using MR techniques to image brain
activity is currently under study as an alternative to BOLD based functional
MRI. This work theoretically estimates the percentage local signal perturbations
caused by the weak transient neuronal fields, and the effect of various
axonal firing delays on these perturbations is also studied. The modelling
suggests that detection of neuronal fields should be within the capability of
current MR technology, and that better post processing may be required for
more reliable and reproducible results.
Keywords