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SUMMARY:Playing with dice: two unusual use cases for experimental randomis
 ation in fMRI - Dr Matan Mazor\, University of Oxford\, UK
DTSTART:20250224T123000Z
DTEND:20250224T133000Z
UID:TALK226342@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dace Apšvalka
DESCRIPTION:*Speaker:* Visiting in person - Dr Matan Mazor\, University of
  Oxford\, UK. \n\n*Title:* Playing with dice: two unusual use cases for ex
 perimental randomisation in fMRI.\n\n*Abstract:* Randomisation is a defini
 ng feature of scientific experiments. In functional neuroimaging\, randomi
 sing the order and timing of events allows researchers to identify activat
 ions that are causally linked to particular stimuli or cognitive processes
 . In this talk\, I will share two additional use cases for experimental ra
 ndomisation in fMRI: as a tool for identifying functional selectivity in a
  model-free way\, and as a mechanism for time-locking of study plans as pa
 rt of the pre-registration process. First\, I will present TWISTER randomi
 sation\, where specific stimulus features are selectively randomised to pr
 oduce differences in the similarity between experimental runs along specif
 ic dimensions in task space. This way\, differences in between-run\, withi
 n-voxel correlations can be taken as a measure of functional selectivity e
 ven without knowledge of the underlying data-generating model (for example
 \, without knowing how neuronal activation is linked to the measured BOLD 
 signal). Second\, I will present a randomisation-based\, cryptographic app
 roach to pre-registration: by setting the seed of the pseudorandom number 
 generator to a fingerprint of the pre-registered documents\, we make the o
 rder and timing of events causally dependent on the pre-registered plans a
 nd hypotheses\, time-locking data collection with respect to pre-registrat
 ion.\n\n*Venue:* MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.z
 oom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823
  8511 3580\; Passcode: 299077)
LOCATION: MRC-CBU\, 15 Chaucer Road\, Cambridge
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