fMRI and BCI: New Platforms of Communication and Control
The human brain, though one organ in the human system, contains a huge number of detailed networks of neurons running in it. Through years of progress in neuroscience and neuroimaging, we have been drawn closer to an idea about its complex functionality. The more paradigm-shifting techniques in this domain include functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or fMRI. Beyond these mainstream applications, however, fMRI data have nowadays started to play an important role in developing brain-computer interfaces, which are hard or software systems designed to bridge the gap between human cognition and any external device to which a person would like to be able to control, communicate with, or even interact with in revolutionary ways. What is fMRI? Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a special type of MRI that measures and maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow. When any given part of the brain is more active, it uses more oxygen; hence, more blood flows to it. FMRI