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Meet us at VSS-2024, Florida

The fMRI-at team will be at the Vision Science Society conference in Florida from May 17th to 22nd, talking about our latest research on retinotopy. We’re excited to meet other researchers and chat about our work. Come join us for some interesting discussions about how our brains make sense of the world around us! See you there!

Effects of NORDIC denoising on population receptive field maps

Christian Windischberger | Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:45 – 6:45 pm | Banyan Breezeway

Comparing pRF Mapping Estimates for Words and Checker Patterns

David Linhardt | Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:45 – 6:45 pm | Banyan Breezeway

A novel approach for population-receptive field mapping using high-performance computing

Siddharth Mittal | Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:45 – 6:45 pm | Banyan Breezeway

Internship / Master thesis

Brain Imaging & Stimulation

The fMRI lab at the MR Centre of Excellence (Medical University of Vienna) is looking for motivated students to work on projects using

  • functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
  • Motion tracking
  • Neuronavigation 
  • Multimodal integration

Duration
min. 6 weeks (Internship)

Supervision
Martin Tik, PhD
Dipl. Ing. Michael Woletz
Dipl.-Ing. David Linhardt
Prof. Christian Windischberger

Topics from basic science & clinical applications to creativity research (see research topics)

Potential learning outcomes

  • Experience in neuroscientific experiments & interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Assistance in data collection
  • Independent research
  • Analysis of fMRI data using Matlab

Depending on background and research interests there is a wide scope of projects.

Requirements

We expect

  • sufficient time resources,
  • scientific writing & reading skills,
  • fast learning of new techniques
  • high motivation & autonomy 

We prefer students with programming skills (Matlab, C++, Python)

Send your motivational letter (German or English) to martin.tik@meduniwien.ac.at

OHBM-2020

See our presented work!

Diffusion MRI:

Retinotopic Mapping:

TMS/fMRI:

7 Tesla fMRI allows for robust mapping of amygdala responses during multiple runs and sessions.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has come under skepticism from researchers questioning the validity of fMRI findings. The amygdala’s anatomical position makes robust fMRI mapping particularly difficult. Responses in the amygdala during emotional tasks was therefore particularly questioned.

We repeated runs of an emotional task during 7T fMRI and varied task instructions and technical factors.

In our recent Neuroimage publication, we provide important test metrics including reliability and systematic replicability. We conclude that high-resolution fMRI at 7T allows for robust mapping of amygdala activation.
Geissberger N & Tik M, Sladky R, Woletz M, Schuler AL, Willinger D, Windischberger C. Reproducibility of amygdala activation in facial emotion processing at 7T. Neuroimage. 2020 Jan 26:116585. 2020.

Optimal preprocessing pipeline for fALFF

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Resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) offers the possibility to assess brain function during rest. This absence of explicit stimuli in fMRI makes analyses more susceptible to noise than task‐based fMRI.

Data preprocessing is a critical procedure to minimise artefacts related to motion and physiology.

A paper recently published in Human Brain Mapping evaluates the effects of different preprocessing strategies on the amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) and fractional ALFF (fALFF). We give important recommendations and identified preprocessing strategies that have a negative impact.

Woletz M, Hoffmann A, Tik M, Sladky R, Lanzenberger R, Robinson S, Windischberger C. Beware detrending: Optimal preprocessing pipeline for low-frequency fluctuation analysis. Hum Brain Mapp. 2019 Apr 1;40(5):1571-1582. 2019.

Dopamine linked to creative ideation

After our recent finding on strong involvement of dopaminergic pathways during creative problem solving, we took a look at individual differences in brain connectivity in absence of a task.

Our recent Neuroimage publication shows that people with stronger dopaminergic midbrain connectivity have more frequent everyday creative thoughts.

Schuler A, Tik M, Sladky R, Luft CDB, Hoffmann A, Woletz M, Zioga I, Bhattacharya J, Windischberger C. Modulations in resting state networks of subcortical structures linked to creativity. Neuroimage. 2019 Mar 29;195:311-319. 2019.

Aha! Moments linked to dopamine

  • Contrast for solutions found with vs. without insight

We recently published a paper explaining the neural correlates and the role of dopamine circuitry when solving problems with an Aha! or Eureka-moment (Tik M, Sladky R, Luft C, Willinger D, Hoffmann A, Banissy M, Bhattacharya J, Windischberger C. Ultrahigh-field fMRI insights on insight: Neural correlates of the Aha!-moment. Hum Brain Mapp. 2018) 

International media coverage has placed this paper in the Top10 most mentioned publications in Human Brain Mapping.

Kurier, DerStandard, science.orf.at, Österreich, Daily Mail, The Sun, India Times (Gurugram, India), laboratoryequipment.com, dotemirates (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), Medical Xpress, Pflege Professionell, supermed, Alpha Galileo, Österreich Journal, Kurier, Generation55Plus.net, Wissenschaft.de, Tiroler Tageszeitung, Medical News Today (MNT), Bionity (Lumitos, Berlin), Laborpraxis Vogel, DiePresse, life-science, Radio Wien, Radio Wien, BR2, B5, B5,

Eyes on the Brain

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A new paper on artificial scotoma estimation using population Receptive Field (pRF) mapping has been recently published in Neuroimage by our group.

We were able to correctly estimate small central scotoma (2.35° visual angle) on a single subject basis based on fMRI data.

Investigating effects on the retinotopic map caused by artificial scotoma will help to interpret changes observed in patient populations suffering from macular degeneration and macular holes.


Hummer A, Ritter M, Woletz M, Ledolter A, Tik M, Dumoulin S, Windischberger C. Artificial scotoma estimation based on population receptive field mapping. NeuroImage. 2018