Name: Kamil Uludag (Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada. Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada)

Title: Laminar fMRI modeling - from neural activity to the BOLD signal and back

Abstract: High-resolution fMRI at ultra-high field provides access to the laminar organization of the human cortex, but its interpretation requires accounting for the complex relationship between neuronal activity, vascular responses, and the measured BOLD signal. I will first introduce physiological dynamic causal modeling (P-DCM), which links neuronal interactions to neurovascular coupling and BOLD signal generation. I will then describe laminar hemodynamic models that account for layer-dependent vascular architecture and the spatial specificity of the BOLD signal. Finally, I will present laminar DCM, which integrates layer-specific neuronal and hemodynamic models to infer directed effective connectivity from high-resolution fMRI, together with recent experimental applications demonstrating its potential to characterize feedforward and feedback interactions between cortical areas.

Website / links: https://brain-to.github.io/