Basic Principles and Applications of Brain Imaging Methodologies to Neuroscience

The course aims at introducing the fundamentals of brain metabolism and brain imaging methodologies. Neuroimaging techniques provided cognitive and social neuroscience with an unprecedented tool to investigate the neural correlates of behavior and mental functions. Here we will review the basic principles, research and clinical applications of positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), non-invasive brain stimulation tools. Solid background in the concepts common to many types of neuroimaging, ranging from study design to data processing and interpretation, will be discussed to address neuroscientific questions. In particular, we will first review the basics of neurophysiology to understand the principles of brain imaging. Then, methodologies of data processing for the main brain imaging tools will be provided to the students with hands-on sessions: students will become familiar with the main pipelines for PET, fMRI and EEG data reconstruction, realignment, spatio-temporal normalization, first and second-level analyses. At the end of the course, students are expected to have general background knowledge of the basic principles, methodologies and applications of the most important brain functional techniques and to be prepared to evaluate the applicability of, and the results provided by, these methodologies for different problems in cognitive and clinical neuroscience.