Neurosalience #S3E7 with Seong-Gi Kim - Digging into all the mysteries of fMRI contrast

Seong-Gi Kim, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Washington University in 1988 for investigating blood flow using NMR spectroscopy, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Washington on the determination of biomolecular structure by NMR. Early on, Dr. Kim embraced the difficult but penetrating work of fMRI on animal models. He has since been leading the world pushing the limits of our understanding of the biologic underpinnings of fMRI contrast towards answering systems neuroscience questions. Since 2013, Dr. Kim has been director of the Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR) at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea.

This is a pretty intense podcast that has a slightly different format than our typical podcasts. We hit on about 15 of the big questions in fMRI: including the pre and post undershoot, negative signal changes, new types of contrast, fMRI specificity, and spatial and temporal resolution. Towards the end we talk about Dr. Kim's inspired work using optogenetics to provide insight into resting state fMRI as well as how excitation vs inhibition contribute to fMRI contrast.

Episode producers:
Omer Faruk Gulban
Stephania Assimopoulos

Brain Art
Artist: Steve West
Title:Quantum Geist
Author’s Description:My brain in motion, fMRI scan

[practiCalfMRI]

Seong-Gi is one of the best fMRI contrast scientists out there. (Also one of the nicest, and probably the most humble bar none.) There is a veritable treasure trove of information here related to functional imaging contrast mechanisms. All fMRI practitioners should listen to this interview twice and take copious notes. It's a comprehensive review of what we know in late 2021.