Using functional brain imaging, researchers have found that ambiguity in choices activates the amygdale, the region in our brain that also gets triggered by fear or threat, while at the same time it leads to decreased activity in the striatal system, which responds to potential rewards.
For the new research, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, David Tolin of the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, recruited 107 people for brain scans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
It's based on his work using functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans that first demonstrated that, when people are asked to imagine themselves in retirement, the parts of their brains that usually "light up" when they think about themselves don't light up at all.
Daniel Langleben, of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, uses a brain-scanning technique called functional magnetic-resonance imaging to probe his subjects' honesty.
In a 2009 study, scientists there used fMRI (Functional MRI) imaging to measure brain activity in regions of emotional processing in the brain before and after injecting Botox to suppress smiling muscles.
Functional-imaging studies of the brain have revealed another tantalizing clue: During the aura phase, a wave of electrical activity sweeps over the outer, furrowed layer of the brain known as the cortex, at a pace of 2 to 3 millimeters per minute.
They use functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to measure brain responses.
The researchers used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans to monitor brain activity in 15 people with autistic spectrum disorders and 15 without.
Dr. Wolinsky said the next study he expects to pursue will use functional MRI imaging to measure changes in the brain in people participating in cognitive-training exercises, he said.
But studies using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) can show what's happening in the brain.
Using a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers were able to record the brain's activity in response to internal and external stimuli such as eating and drinking.
Using imaging, scientists have shown that meditation can improve the functional performance of specific circuits in the brain and may reduce age-related shrinkage of several brain centers, particularly those that may be vulnerable in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
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