Effects of check size on visual cortex activation studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We studied functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of visual cortex during checkerboard visual stimulation with three standard check sizes to examine whether activation in the visual cortex varied among these sizes. We acquired fMRI at 1.5 T in 8 normal subjects, each receiving the best refractive correction. Each subject underwent an experiment consisting of four conditions: black and white checkerboards with three check sizes (0.25-, 0.5-, and 1.0-degree) flickering at 8 Hz, and a black screen. SPM96 was used for a group data analysis with a random effects model after each of the subject's data was motion-corrected and spatially normalized to a standard brain. The activation in the visual cortex showed the greatest signal changes with the 0.5-degree check among the three check sizes. When standard check sizes are used to stimulate visual cortex in fMRI experiments, our results suggest that 0.5-degree checks flickering at 8 Hz produce the most vigorous activation in visual cortex.

published proceedings

  • Ophthalmic Res

author list (cited authors)

  • Miki, A., Liu, G. T., Goldsmith, Z. G., Zhou, L., Siegfried, J., Hulvershorn, J., Raz, J., & Haselgrove, J. C.

citation count

  • 10

complete list of authors

  • Miki, A||Liu, GT||Goldsmith, ZG||Zhou, L||Siegfried, J||Hulvershorn, J||Raz, J||Haselgrove, JC

publication date

  • May 2001