Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive and in-vivo imaging technique essential for measuring brain activity. Functional connectivity is used to study associations between brain regions either at rest or while study subjects perform tasks. In this paper, we propose a rigorous definition of task-evoked functional connectivity at the population level (ptFC). Importantly, our proposed ptFC is interpretable in the context of task-fMRI studies. An algorithm for estimating ptFC is provided. We present the performance of the proposed algorithm compared to existing functional connectivity estimation approaches using simulations. Lastly, we apply the proposed framework to estimate task-evoked functional connectivity in a motor-task study from the Human Connectome Project. We show that the proposed algorithm identifies associations regions of the brain related to the performance of motor tasks as expected.

翻译：功能磁共振成像(fMRI)是测量大脑活动所必需的非侵入性和活性成像技术,功能连接用于研究大脑区域之间在休息时或研究对象执行任务时的联系,在本文件中,我们提议严格定义在人口一级的任务被削弱的功能连接。重要的是,我们提议的ptFC可以在任务-磁共振研究中解释。提供了估算ptFC的算法。我们用模拟来介绍拟议的算法与现有功能连接估计方法相比的绩效。最后,我们采用拟议的框架,在人类连接项目的一项运动任务-任务研究中估计任务被删除的功能连接。我们表明,拟议的算法确定了与预期执行运动任务有关的大脑联系区域。