There are many different types of ways that brain activity can be measured. Each different method has specificities that it looks for when measuring brain activity. For example, Electroencephalography, or EEG, measures the patterns of action potentials in the brain. For this post, I am going to be talking about my experience with an fMRI and MRI!
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, measures how atoms in the brain align themselves when placed in the presence of a magnetic field. An fMRI detects differences in oxygenated and deoxygenated blood and blood flow throughout the brain. Lucky enough for me, I had to get an MRI and fMRI of my brain which is perfect to talk about for this class. I struggle with chronic migraines. For 8 months now, I have had a migraine that has not gone away. In order to rule everything else out my neurologist ordered that I get an MRI and fMRI done. Something I found interesting that my neurologist told me is that the brain does not have any pain receptors so the pain I am feeling from my migraine is not coming from my brain, rather there are specific arteries that cause pain.
I was prescribed depressants to take before I went into the machine to get my MRI and fMRI. I had a similar experience with both procedures. Many people get claustrophobic being in a small tube. I felt claustrophobic, but I knew that the benefits of getting this done outweighed the hour of claustrophobia. The machine made a very very loud noise. I have gotten an MRI before on my feet, where I was not all the way in the machine so I was able to listen to music while the procedure happened. However this time, I was placed in a brace for my head. It was not comfortable and I could hear all of the noises the machine made. I was relieved once the procedures were finished.
After being able to experience these procedures firsthand, I believe that they have many more pros than cons. I was able to find out that there was nothing wrong with my brain and the way it functioned due to these different ways of measuring the brain.
Hello!
I am so sorry you were so claustrophobic during your scanning process. Personally, I have never had an MRI done but I would imagine that I would most likely be very claustrophobic, I tend to panic when I am in tight spaces or areas. I think it is fascinating how much information they can discover with brain activity. Technology seems to constantly change in modern day we may in the future may not have to go into a tube maybe technology could advance to the point where it can be accommodating for people that are claustrophobic like myself included. The only scanning I had done was an EKG (Electrocardiogram) and I must say that was extremely uncomfortable, but they had to do it for the doctors to check my heart. I was looking at an article that has a new MRI machine that is being developed by a technology company called Siemens. This FDA-approved MRI machine is the first designed and found at Ohio State University College of medicine. This machine sounds like an amazing advancement in technology because it will also help people that are obese or even claustrophobic like me. This machine will also help people that have pacemakers.
Sources-
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. (2022, January 20). New MRI expands access to life-saving imaging. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 8, 2023 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220120165114.htm
I really enjoyed reading about your post because I wrote about this topic as well. I struggle with migraines just like you do, so it is always interesting to read how other people experience them and how they can be similar and different, and also what the doctors say to different people. In my post one thing I added was the expense of these MRI’s because they can get really expensive really fast. With my experience they tried everything they could at first before getting me in for an MRI. According to GoodRX, if insurance does not cover the MRI you are looking at a starting price of $400 and can get as expensive as $11,800. (GoodRX, 2022) Depending on where you get the MRI prices can vary drastically. According to GoodRX, the least expensive tend to be bone MRI’s, with the most expensive being Brain and Neck MRI’s. (GoodRX, 2022) I am able to really connect with you on feeling claustrophobic, especially in the tube with the helmet that they put you in for a brain MRI where you can’t move a muscle, to me that was the worst part of it. In the last part of your post you say there are pros and cons, I feel like with everyones experience that can change. For mine the cons have outweighed the pros because I have still not gotten a diagnosis besides being told I have abnormal migraines, and feeling like I am being pushed off to the side to figure out at another time. Overall though, I do feel as if migraines can be misdiagnosed, especially in my situation because in my MRI I had a lot of unexplained spots and white matter on my brain. The white matter can be anything from migraines, strokes, an autoimmune disease such as MS (multiple sclerosis), and things like infections, etc. I feel like in general though anything can be mistaken for something different, but that is why exploring and research is a good thing. Without MRI and fMRI machines we would not have any of this! I really enjoyed your post, thanks for sharing!
References:
Woodard, DeShena. “How Much Does an MRI Cost (with/without Health Insurance)?” GoodRx, 7 July 2022, http://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/diagnostics/how-much-does-an-mri-cost.