1. Examples of pattern-recognition and fMRI applied to real-world problems: Dyslexia and detecting consciousness

2. Some quick project notes
Do not assume that the reader cares about your favourite brain area
…or even that they care about the brain at all
You can assume that they care about human beings and about knowledge
Explain why those interests mean that your brain study will matter to them
Avoid vague phrases
“Explore the role of”
“The neural basis of”
“We predict an interaction between”

3. Predicting reading development using imaging, beyond what you can get just from behaviour
Hoeft, F., McCandliss, B. D., Black, J. M., Gantman, A., Zakerani, N., Hulme, C., ... & Gabrieli, J. D. (2011). Neural systems predicting long-term outcome in dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(1),

4. Hoeft et al. (2011): Key points
Quotes from abstract
Prospective, longitudinal study over 2.5 y
Aim: predict future long-term reading gains in dyslexia
No behavioral measure, including widely used and standardized reading and language tests, reliably predicted future reading gains in dyslexia
MVPA of whole-brain activation pattern during phonological processing predicted which children with dyslexia would improve reading skills 2.5 y later with >90% accuracy.
Brain measures that predict future behavioral outcomes (neuroprognosis) may be more accurate, in some cases, than available behavioral measures

5. How subjects developed over time
Hoeft, F. et al. (2011). Neural systems predicting long- term outcome in dyslexia. PNAS, 108(1),

6. A quick detour: What is an SVM?
Support Vector Machine
Classifier which tries to find the largest margin between classes
intuitive-introduction.html

7. fMRI and DTI predictors of reading gains in dyslexia
Hoeft, F. et al. (2011). Neural systems predicting long-term outcome in dyslexia. PNAS, 108(1),

8. Different measures of accuracy (often used in medicine)
Positive Predictive Value and Precision are different names for the same thing

9. fMRI and DTI predictors of reading gains in dyslexia

10. Detecting consciousness in patients in vegetative state
Monti, Martin M., Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, John D. Pickard, Luaba Tshibanda, Adrian M. Owen, and Steven Laureys. "Willful modulation of brain activity in disorders of consciousness." New England Journal of Medicine 362, no. 7 (2010):

11. BBC News video

12. Mental imagery: What happens when we imagine stuff?
There used to be two rival views:
It’s a higher-level proposition- like representation
You actually re-activate the same areas involved in perception
Kosslyn, Stephen M., Giorgio Ganis, and William L. Thompson. "Neural foundations of imagery." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2.9 (2001):

13. Mental imagery tasks
Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

14. Localiser scans
Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

15. Communication scans
Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

16. Some questions
If a patient does respond reliably to the questions, does that mean that they are conscious?
If a patient does not respond reliably to the questions, does that mean that they are not conscious?
Are these “brain responses” a form of behaviour?

17. More questions Can this be extended beyond Yes/No questions?
How might that work?
Ethical questions?