Oulu Functional Neuroimaging - OFNI

The core of our research is to improve the detection of brain disease with functional neuroimaging of spontaneous brain activity. For this, we have two major veins: clinical and basic scientific ones. The clinical trials tries to separate abnormal spontaneous brain activity in diseases. The basic research focuses on understanding the baseline brain activity in order to further develop more sensitive and specific disease markers. For both, we utilize the following methods: resting/activation state fMRI, BOLD-EEG, MRE(E)G, NIRS, and NIBP.

We have the latest technology in measuring slow single-cell potentials from hippocampal slices and sympathetic nervous system fluctuations in humans. We have created a novel multimodal scanning environment, which combines the latest development within Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) called Magnetic Resonance Encephalography (MREG) combined with MRI-compatible electroencephalography (EEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and continuous non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) measurements. Our aim is to form a picture of neuronal activity from single-cells to neuronal networks based on slow neuronal fluctuations.

We collaborate with several clinical research groups that focus on psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, dementia, epilepsy, and autism. In 2014, we have initiated CNS lymphoma research focusing on BBBD multimodal monitoring. We are also a well-established research site within the international neuroimaging realm.