Tools of the trade: psychophysiological interactions and functional connectivity

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 Jun;7(5):604-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nss055. Epub 2012 May 7.

Abstract

Psychophysiological interactions (PPIs) analysis is a method for investigating task-specific changes in the relationship between activity in different brain areas, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Specifically, PPI analyses identify voxels in which activity is more related to activity in a seed region of interest (seed ROI) in a given psychological context, such as during attention or in the presence of emotive stimuli. In this tutorial, we aim to give a simple conceptual explanation of how PPI analysis works, in order to assist readers in planning and interpreting their own PPI experiments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain / blood supply
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping*
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neural Pathways / blood supply
  • Neural Pathways / physiology*
  • Oxygen / blood
  • Psychophysiology*
  • Task Performance and Analysis

Substances

  • Oxygen