With the advent of functional brain imaging techniques and recent developments in the analysis of cortical connectivity, the focus of mental imagery studies has shifted from a semi-modular approach to an integrated cortical network perspective. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of visual imagery of faces and objects show that activation of content-specific representations stored in ...

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a brain imaging technique that offers the potential to provide continuous, detailed insight into human mental workload, enabling an objective means of detecting overload conditions during complex tasks. When compared to other brain imaging techniques, fNIRS provides a non-invasive, portable and reliable measure that lends itself towards more ecol...

Various brain imaging techniques have become available in the past decade. These include techniques to evaluate brain structure, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and techniques to assess functional activity, such as measurement of regional cerebral blood flow, single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography. These techniques can be used to...

The activation of prefrontal cortex of brain during some mental tasks like mental arithmetic induce has been studied using hemodynamic imaging modalities. In this study, we focused on the differentiation of activated area in local prefrontal brain caused by the different mental activities as well as evaluating the classification accuracy of in-house fNIRS system. The study preliminarily validat...

A common goal of neuroimaging research is to use imaging data to identify the mental processes that are engaged when a subject performs a mental task. The use of reasoning from activation to mental functions, known as "reverse inference," has been previously criticized on the basis that it does not take into account how selectively the area is activated by the mental process in question. In thi...

Whether mental visual images play a functional role in cognition or that propositional knowledge is sufficient for supporting performance in imagery tasks is a long-standing debate. It cannot be resolved using behavioural data alone, nor by brain imaging data alone; for example, across fMRI studies mental rotation has been shown to involve virtually all areas of the brain. Alternatively partici...

1) Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorder (www.nisad.org.au); 2) Centre for Mental Health Studies, University of Newcastle (www.newcastle.edu.au/centre/cmhs); 3) Hunter Neuroscience & Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Brain & Mental Health Research Program (www.hmri.net.au); 4) Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, University of California – Los Angeles (www.loni.ucla.edu); 5) Sch...

The widespread use and novel applications of brain imaging techniques seem to open the possibility of new threats to one’s privacy. Being in a situation where we cannot control what information about ourselves is available to others could restrict the jobs we can get, the business we conduct, the way we are seen by strangers, and the way we relate to our friends and family. While researchers an...

D iabetes is associated with impaired cognitive functioning and an increased risk of dementia (1,2). Patients with type 1 diabetes may show mild to moderate slowing of mental speed and diminished mental flexibility, whereas learning and memory are relatively spared (3). In patients with type 2 diabetes, cognitive impairment may be relatively more pronounced, particularly affecting verbal memory...