Computer Science majors Daniel Sooknanan, Nicholas Cheung, Jason Shan, Asafe Brandao, Georgina Woo, and Safika Alam spent an entire Sunday at a workshop on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). There were lectures on the history and physics of fMRI, and how it is used in scientific research to study the human brain. At the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center they observed a live fMRI experiment and learned to use software that visualized real-world data from different brain areas across time. They also observed how the powerful magnetic field of the scanner made iron filings float and rotate as they carried them about the scanner's room. Finally, on live data, they applied MATLAB software and techniques they learned in CSCI 353 (Machine Learning) to differentiate threat responses among people. A good time was had by all.
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