Measuring Brain Activation through Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) during Visual Task Learning

The purpose of this study is to understand the brain activity associated with learning a visual task by utilizing the applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging in cognitive neuroscience. The study was performed using two visual tasks referred to as aircraft and control, respectively. We compared the brain activation of these two visual tasks to understand the learning process of the participants. Fifteen young adults, ten males and five females, ranging in age from 19 to 35 years, participated in a ten-week study. Eight participants dropped out either voluntarily or were excluded for different reasons. The data analysis was completed with the remaining seven right handed participants. The study included seven behavioral sessions and three brain imaging sessions (weeks 2, 6 and 10). The collected data were analyzed using FMRIBs Software Library (FSL) and statistical analysis was performed using JMP 12. The brain activation associated with the aircraft task increased from week 2 to week 6 and then decreased by week 10, whereas the activation associated with the control task did not yield any significant increase or decrease but rather stayed the same across the three imaging sessions