Summary and Quiz

We have now covered all the preprocessing steps needed to get fMRI data in a suitable format for statistical analysis. Once all the steps are complete then the preprocessing for one subject is complete. If this were a study with multiple subjects, these steps would need to be repeated for all the functional data from every subject. Later in the course, we will see how we can use MATLAB code generated by the batch system to automate this process. The code snippets provided in this lesson give some insight into ways these steps could be automated, though this is not the method we will ultimately recommend. For now, it is instructive to run these steps manually through the graphical interface to make sure you understand them and understand the files that are generated. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring how this preprocessed data can be used to reach conclusions about the effects of the experimental manipulation on the brain. For now, make sure you are comfortable with these steps, in particular understanding why they are used as well as how to perform them using SPM.

Quiz

Use the quiz below to test your understanding from this lesson.