The field of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is intrinsically interdisciplinary, involving neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, radiology, physics, and mathematics. For me, this is part of the pleasure in working in this area, providing an opportunity to collaborate with scientists and clinicians with a wide range of backgrounds. This book is intended as an introduction to the basic ideas and techniques of fMRI. My goal was to provide a guide to the principles of fMRI with sufficient depth to be useful to the active neuroscience investigator using fMRI in their research, but also to make the material accessible to the new investigator or clinician with no prior knowledge of the field. The viewpoint of the book reflects my own background as a physicist, focusing on how the techniques work. The emphasis is on examples that illustrate the basic principles rather than a more comprehensive review of the field or a more rigorous mathematical treatment of the fundamentals.

This book grew out of courses I taught with my colleagues L. R. Frank and E. C. Wong, and their insights have significantly shaped the way in which the material is presented. Our courses were geared toward graduate students in neuroscience and psychology, but the book should also be useful for clinicians who want to understand the basis of the new fMRI techniques and potential clinical applications, and for physicists and engineers who are looking for an overview of the ideas of fMRI. Some of the techniques described are not yet part of the mainstream of basic neuro-science applications, such as arterial spin labeling, bolus tracking, and diffusion tensor imaging.