Workshops

Workshop-1 : Neuroimaging Research and fNIRS

Thursday, 19th  December, 2024

[CAD/CAM Lab, DMTS] 

Founded by Engr. Dr. Noman Naseer, Tenured Associate Professor at Air University, the Neuroimaging Research Group (NRG) has been working in the field since 2015. The group has worked in varied fields including rehabilitation, neurorobotics, assistive robotics, prosthetics, neuroscience, neurolinguistics, socio-economic studies, diagnostics, mental health and well-being.

Workshop Plan

NRG would deliver a workshop on the title: “Neuroimaging Research and fNIRS: Experimentation, Data Acquisition and Processing”. The contents would focus on the following topics:

1. Neuroimaging Modality                                                        
1. Definition of Neuroimaging
2. Purpose of Neuroimaging and its types
3. Basic principle, how do we get the Neuroimage?
4. Neuroimaging Technologies: Types and Functionalities
2. Introduction to Neuroscience and Neuroimaging                                         
1. Foundations of Neuroscience (Definition, goals, and milestones)
2.  Basic overview of the Brain structure and function
3. Demonstration of Neuroscientific Experiments (Stroop Task, Rubber Hand Illusion, Reaction Time Experiment)
4. Neuroimaging Experiments in Neuroscience (Loss-of-function, Gain-of-function; Independent/Dependent Variables, Dealing with Human Subjects, Informed Consent, Health Indicators)
3. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
1. Principle of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (How fNIRS works)                                
2.  Optical Properties of Biological Tissues
3. Hemodynamic Response and Brain Function
4. Comparison with Other Neuroimaging Techniques
5. Future Applications and Research Directions
4. Paradigm Design                                                        Dr Hammad (30 minutes)
1. What is the Experimental Paradigm?
2. How to build the Experimental Paradigm?
3. Introduction to PsychoPy for Designing Paradigm
5. Brain Data Acquisition
1. Noises and Filters
2. Introduction to Aurora Software, and fNIRS equipment
3. Introduction to NIRS lab and demo
6. Data Processing
1. Feature and its significance in classification
2. Optimal feature selection techniques
3. Channel and its significance (data analysis and classification)
4. Channel data validation techniques