Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a promising method to deter
mine noninvasively the spatial distribution of brain activity under a given
paradigm, e.g. in response to certain stimuli. In the context of a motor t
ask experiment we discuss methods for analyzing fMRI data based on principa
l and independent component analysis with respect to their capabilities of
separating noise sources from functional activity. (C) 2000 Published by El
sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.