Lateral geniculate activations can be detected using intersubject averaging and fMRI

Abstract Applications of fMRI in functional brain imaging are mainly confined to single subject designs, prohibiting the assessment of subject or group by condition interactions (i.e., differential activations) or areas of conjoint activation. In this paper a framework for fMRI group designs, using statistical parametric mapping, is introduced. It is generally believed that intersubject averaging, which requires spatial normalization and smoothing, will decrease the effective spatial resolution of fMRI or its sensitivity. A subcortical activation of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) was therefore chosen to demonstrate the feasibility and power of intersubject averaging in the context of fMRI. Seven volunteers were studied, while looking at a blank screen or radially moving dots. LGN activation was demonstrated in all single subject analyses and in the group analysis.