fMRI During COVID – with Dr. Martin Weiner
Dr. Martin Wiener is a Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience Professor who has both undergraduate and graduate research assistants in his lab. His research focuses on how the brain perceives time and space. Philosophers may debate the nature of each, but his lab aims to empirically study how the brain constructs these dimensions. To do this, his lab uses a variety of different tools in the armamentarium of Cognitive Neuroscience: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Electroencephalography (EEG), and Psychophysics. Additionally, his lab focuses on combining different techniques, such as simultaneous TMS-EEG or fMRI-EEG, to enhance their power and the repertoire of questions that can be asked.
Even more exciting: They are not just interested in time and space alone, but what it is used for. For time, a major use of interest is the perception of rhythm and music. For space, they are interested in how this dimension is used for navigation and processing value.
COVID halted research just about everywhere. Mason was no exception to that either. In Dr. Martin Wiener's Lab where they are using a combination of techniques in their research of how the brain perceives time and space, it was difficult. One student still conducted research and as opportunities for online advancements in research coordination became more widely available. They noticed how they were able to get back to a semblance of normalcy, eventually.
For those of us who do not know what an fMRI-EEG Machine does, can you elaborate on that, please?
In this case, it’s an MRI machine (magnetic resonance imaging), which is a large device capable of noninvasively acquiring images of the brain. One of the features of this device is that we can also measure functional MRI (fMRI), wherein we detect changes in blood flow to parts of the brain. While this allows us to index ongoing brain activity, the process is very slow, such that we can only see what is happening once every second, or so. There’s a lot of brain activity that happens at a much faster scale, which is where electroencephalography (EEG) comes in. Here, we can measure brain activity much more quickly; yet, the disadvantage to EEG is that you cannot detect precisely where the activity is coming from, as EEG relies on electrodes placed on the scalp. In our lab, we conduct simultaneous fMRI and EEG, such that participants wear an MRI-compatible EEG cap inside the scanner. As a result, we can have a far more comprehensive view of brain activity than with either technique alone.
What exactly does your lab do with the fMRI research/in your lab?
The methods that we use in our lab fall into three broad categories: test, record, stimulate. The first method (test) is where we run behavioral studies in which subjects have to make responses to different stimuli that we present, such as asking subjects to measure how long a tone was played for, then compare its length to a different tone. The second method (record) is where we use fMRI or EEG (or both) to measure brain activity while subjects are engaged in one of our behavioral studies, in order to test theories of brain activation. The third method (stimulate) is where we use non-invasive brain stimulation methods, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) to briefly disrupt brain activity and measure changes in behavior.
How was research affected for you over COVID?
When the pandemic started, we had to halt all in-person research. This included numerous studies using EEG, TMS, and fMRI, as well as other behavioral experiments. As a result, there was very little research that we were able to conduct.
Were any of your projects able to continue during the shutdown or with social distancing?
- Embodied Timing and Rhythm
- Frequency Tuning
- Sensory-specific qualities of Time
- Timing and Traumatic Brain Injury
- Time, Distance, Magnitude
All of our projects had to stop immediately.
When were you able to start your research back up?
Yes, but slowly. It took a long time before it was safe to resume in-person research, as many of the techniques we use require the experimenter to be in close contact with the subject. However, we were able to move many of our behavioral-only studies to online platforms, so that participants could do our experiments in their own homes on a web browser. This allowed us to collect some new and interesting data while everyone was on lockdown.
Were you able to have Research Assistants/When?
Unfortunately, no. It was very difficult to bring on anyone new to the lab during this time.
What new policies and mandates did/do you have to put in place to ensure safety?
For in-person research, when we did resume, we had to have many safety measures in place, including masks and other PPE, as well as cleaning/disinfecting and ensuring that everyone involved passed health screeners.
How do you see your research being impacted or changing in the future with COVID? Do you see the research continuing down the path it was on or changing because of how covid has impacted it? (Pending any changes have taken place in the trajectory of the research and how it has been affected)
One major way our research has changed is the advent of online platforms for running psychology studies. Prior to the pandemic, much of this technology was undeveloped, but now there are numerous options for running your own studies online at a very low cost, where you can get large numbers of subjects to participate. Going forward that’s likely to continue.
How does the research shift with each new Research Assistant coming in? What does each student bring to the table in terms of academic enrichment to the lab?
Students get a chance to both engage with ongoing research and also propose their own avenues of inquiry. When I meet with a new student, we typically talk about what is interesting or motivates them, and then try to find a project they can develop and work on.
Were any of them still researching the break? How was the research process for them, if you were involved?
Over the break, I had one student research assistant who conducted her honors project in my lab. She collected all of her data online and found some very interesting results. She is now in the accelerated MA program, also in my lab, and is applying to Ph.D. programs right now.
To follow the research they are conducting or to be a part of the research please click here!
