Temporal properties of the hemodynamic response in functional MRI

Today, most studies of cognitive processes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) adopt an event-related experimental design. Highly flexible stimulation settings require new statistical models where not only the activation amount, but also the time course of the measured hemodynamic response is analyzed. It is possible to obtain statistically valid descriptions of single hemodynamic responses from a robust nonlinear estimation procedure. Focus is placed on the temporal behaviour of the hemodynamic response: relative temporal order, changes induced by modification of the experimental context, and interindividual differences. Example analyses from recent fMRI studies underline the usefulness of this approach.