Question

When designing an fmri study, which would be the best strategy for isolating the neural activity associated with the vocal component of reading a word from other potential actions related to reading?

a. compare fmri scans of a subject silently reading a word and of reading the word aloud.
b. compare fmri scans of a subject looking at a picture that is related to a word and of reading the word aloud.
c. compare a pet scan of a subject reading a word aloud to an fmri scan of a subject reading the same word aloud.
d. perform an fmri scan of the participant as he is talking to a friend, noting the level of brain activity when he uses the target word.

Answer 1

The best strategy for isolating the neural activity associated with vocalization during reading in an fMRI study is to compare the brain scans of a subject silently reading with those of reading aloud. This method allows researchers to discern the specific brain regions involved in the vocal component of reading.

Step-by-step explanation:

When designing an fMRI study to isolate the neural activity associated with the vocal component of reading a word from other potential actions related to reading, the best strategy would be to compare fMRI scans of a subject silently reading a word and of reading the word aloud. This approach allows researchers to see what areas of the brain are more active during the vocalization process as opposed to simply reading the words visually. By doing a subtraction analysis, the difference in activity between these two conditions can specifically highlight the regions associated with the vocal production.

Functional MRI is a technique that measures changes in blood flow to different parts of the brain, indicating the level of activity in those areas. This helps researchers associate certain tasks or actions with specific regions of the brain. By comparing these scans during different tasks, we can infer which parts of the brain are responsible for specific functions, such as vocalization during reading.

PET scans do provide similar information, but fMRI offers more detailed images and better accuracy in time, making it the preferable method for such a study.