Can MRI Be Used as a Sensor to Record Neural Activity?

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 3; p. 1337
• Main Author: Roth, Bradley J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Bioelectricity; biomagnetism; brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain mapping; Brain research; functional MRI; Heart; Humans; Machine learning; Magnetic Fields; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Muscles; neural activity; Neural networks; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Oxygenation; Peripheral Nerves; Review; Sensors; United States; functional MRI; magnetic resonance imaging; phase shift; neural activity; peripheral nerve; biomagnetism; Lorentz force; brain; artificial intelligence; heart
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23031337

Magnetic resonance provides exquisite anatomical images and functional MRI monitors physiological activity by recording blood oxygenation. This review attempts to answer the following question: Can MRI be used as a sensor to directly record neural behavior? It considers MRI sensing of electrical activity in the heart and in peripheral nerves before turning to the central topic: recording of brain activity. The primary hypothesis is that bioelectric current produced by a nerve or muscle creates a magnetic field that influences the magnetic resonance signal, although other mechanisms for detection are also considered. Recent studies have provided evidence that using MRI to sense neural activity is possible under ideal conditions. Whether it can be used routinely to provide functional information about brain processes in people remains an open question. The review concludes with a survey of artificial intelligence techniques that have been applied to functional MRI and may be appropriate for MRI sensing of neural activity.