Prasanna Karunanayaka1, Christopher W.
Weitekamp1, Jianli Wang1, Megha M. Patel1,
Jeffrey Vesek1, Xiaoyu Sun1, Paul J. Eslinger2,3,
James R. Connor4, Qing X. Yang1,4
1Radiology, Center for NMR Research,
Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States; 2Neurology,
Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States; 3Neural
& Behavioral Sciences, Penn State University College of Medicine,
Hershey, PA, United States; 4Neurosurgery, Penn State University
College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
The pattern of BOLD response during the time course of a standardized olfactory stimulation paradigm was investigated and characterized using group independent component analysis (ICA). Group ICA is quickly becoming a preferred functional MRI data analysis technique due to its ability to reveal the underlying networks of the human brain subserving cognitive functions. Group ICA does not require a priori knowledge of the hemodynamic response function (HRF), which may vary across subjects and paradigm conditions.