Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the Visual Cortex with Wide-View Retinotopic Stimulation
Published on: December 8, 2023
Using FMRI and FNIRS for localization and monitoring of visual cortex activities
Nasser H Kashou1, Ronald Xu, Cynthia J Roberts
1Biomedical Engineering Department, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. nhkashou@ieee.org
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to design a near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sensor head to continuously monitor visual cortex activation. Visual cortex activation regions as a result of eye movements were localized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). Once the region was determined we placed the NIRS sensor head on that region and emulated the same task perfomed in the FMRI experiment. The eye movement chosen for our current validation study was saccades. One subject was instructed to move their eyes in a saccadic fashion for 30 seconds then fixate for 30 seconds. We were able to see changes in oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglin using the NIRS design. These preliminary results suggest that NIRS can be used as a monitoring tool, guided by FMRI in patients who may have visual disorders.
