Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (527 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Methods for visualizing regional blood flow, metabolic, electrical, or other physiological activities in the central nervous system using various imaging modalities.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Neuroimaging, Functional; Functional Brain Imaging; Brain Imaging, Functional; Brain Imagings, Functional; Functional Brain Imagings; Imaging, Functional Brain; Imagings, Functional Brain.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Neuroimaging
- Narrower topics
- Brain Mapping; Dopaminergic Imaging
Related concepts
- Regional Blood Flow
- Central Nervous System
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 119,209 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Functional Neuroimaging” (counts retrieved 2026-11-04). 24,225 of them (20.3%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2010-2019 with 46,687 records.
Reviews account for 10,174 records (8.5%) and meta-analyses for 1,318. Randomized controlled trials number 1,910 (1.6%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 21,333 |
| 2000-2009 | 26,964 |
| 2010-2019 | 46,687 |
| 2020 onward | 24,225 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 10,174 | 8.5% |
| Meta-analyses | 1,318 | 1.1% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 1,910 | 1.6% |
Method: PubMed query "Functional Neuroimaging"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-11-04.
Reading the evidence in diagnostics and medical technology
A test or device is judged by how well it detects a condition, how often it gives false alarms or misses cases, and whether using it improves outcomes for people. Accuracy depends on who is tested and how common the condition is, so a test that performs well in a specialist hospital can perform differently in the community. Check the reference standard, the population studied, the sensitivity and specificity and whether results were confirmed in a separate group.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distributed control circuits across a brain-and-cord connectome | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 25 | cc by PMID 42259917 · DOI · PMC13518251 |
| Investigating the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 22 | cc by PMID 41540261 · DOI · PMC13156034 |
| Precision fMRI reveals densely interdigitated network patches with conserved motifs in the lateral prefrontal cortex | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 17 | cc by PMID 42155453 · DOI · PMC13289807 |
Distributed control circuits across a brain-and-cord connectome [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Just as genomes revolutionized molecular genetics, connectomes (maps of neurons and synapses) are transforming neuroscience.
- Closing excerpt
- These results reveal an architecture that is distributed, parallelized and embodied, reminiscent of distributed control architectures in engineered systems13,14.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (198 words)
Just as genomes revolutionized molecular genetics, connectomes (maps of neurons and synapses) are transforming neuroscience. To date, the only organisms with complete connectomes are worms1-3, sea squirts4 and comb jellies5 (103-104 synapses). By contrast, the fruit fly is more complex (108 synaptic connections), with a brain that supports learning and spatial memory6,7 and an intricate ventral nerve cord analogous to the vertebrate spinal cord8-12. Here we report a densely reconstructed adult fly connectome that unites the brain and ventral nerve cord, and we leverage this resource to investigate principles of neural control. We show that effector neurons (motor neurons, endocrine cells and efferent neurons targeting the viscera) are primarily influenced by sensory neurons in the same body part, forming local feedback loops. These local loops are linked by long-range circuits that involve ascending and descending neurons organized into behaviour-centric modules. Single ascending and descending neurons are often positioned to influence the voluntary movements of multiple body parts, together with the endocrine cells or visceral organs that support those movements. Brain regions involved in learning and navigation supervise these circuits. These results reveal an architecture that is distributed, parallelized and embodied, reminiscent of distributed control architectures in engineered systems13,14.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42259917 · DOI · PMC13518251
Investigating the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Lesion network mapping (LNM) is a neuroimaging framework that uses normative functional connectivity (FC) data to link heterogeneous brain lesions and functional alterations to brain networks implicated in neurological and psychiatric conditions.
- Closing excerpt
- Our work may aid the development of a new generation of network-mapping methods from first principles.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (171 words)
Lesion network mapping (LNM) is a neuroimaging framework that uses normative functional connectivity (FC) data to link heterogeneous brain lesions and functional alterations to brain networks implicated in neurological and psychiatric conditions. However, many of the networks identified by LNM and related methods appear to be highly similar across diverse conditions such as addiction, depression, psychosis and epilepsy. To understand this similarity, we re-examined the data from multiple LNM studies and assessed the methodological roots of the method. Our findings reveal a foundational limitation: at its core, LNM involves a repetitive sampling of one and the same FC matrix. As a result, it systematically maps sets of local brain changes-whether they are patient lesions, magnetic resonance imaging-derived alterations, synthetic or random-onto the same nonspecific properties of the used FC data, producing highly similar networks across conditions. This central limitation cautions the use of LNM as a method for studying distinct biological networks underlying brain disorders. Our work may aid the development of a new generation of network-mapping methods from first principles.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41540261 · DOI · PMC13156034
Precision fMRI reveals densely interdigitated network patches with conserved motifs in the lateral prefrontal cortex [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Dominant models of human lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) organization emphasize broad domain-general zones and smooth functional gradients.
- Closing excerpt
- These findings uncover previously hidden fine-scale organizational principles present in the LPFC.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (158 words)
Dominant models of human lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) organization emphasize broad domain-general zones and smooth functional gradients. However, these models rely on group-averaged neuroimaging, which can obscure fine-scale cortical features in highly inter-individually variable regions such as the LPFC. To address this limitation, we collected a new precision fMRI dataset from 10 individuals, each with approximately 2 h of resting-state fMRI and 6 h of task fMRI data. We mapped individual-specific LPFC networks using resting-state data and tested network-level functional preferences using task data. We found that individual LPFC networks showed fragmented and interdigitated organization compared to the group-averaged networks, including novel conserved motifs present across individuals. Task fMRI revealed that distinct yet adjacent networks support domain-specific processes (i.e., language, social cognition, and episodic projection) versus domain-general cognitive control. Sharp functional boundaries were visible at the individual level that could not be observed in group data. These findings uncover previously hidden fine-scale organizational principles present in the LPFC.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42155453 · DOI · PMC13289807
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: a meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI [4]
- Research article Cognitive reappraisal of emotion: a meta-analysis of human neuroimaging studies [5]
- Research article Functional anatomy of execution, mental simulation, observation, and verb generation of actions: a meta-analysis [6]
- Research article Functional grouping and cortical-subcortical interactions in emotion: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies [7]
- Research article Common and distinct networks underlying reward valence and processing stages: a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies [8]
- Research article Toward systems neuroscience of ADHD: a meta-analysis of 55 fMRI studies [9]
Full-text reviews on EvidenceLib
Open-access review articles about this topic, reproduced in full with authors, licence and references.
A Systematic Review of Integrated Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Studies
Adrian Curtin, Shanbao Tong, Junfeng Sun et al. · Frontiers in Neuroscience 2019 · CC BY 4.0
References
- Bates AS, Phelps JS, Kim M, Yang HH, Matsliah A, Ajabi Z, et al.. Distributed control circuits across a brain-and-cord connectome. . 2026. PMID 42259917 · DOI · PMC13518251
- van den Heuvel MP, Libedinsky I, Quiroz Monnens S, Repple J, Sommer I, Cocchi L. Investigating the methodological foundation of lesion network mapping. . 2026. PMID 41540261 · DOI · PMC13156034
- Ladwig Z, Kermani KZ, Park Y, Housteau E, Dworetsky A, Labora N, et al.. Precision fMRI reveals densely interdigitated network patches with conserved motifs in the lateral prefrontal cortex. . 2026. PMID 42155453 · DOI · PMC13289807
- Phan KL, Wager T, Taylor SF, Liberzon I. Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: a meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI. Neuroimage. 2002. PMID 12030820 · DOI
- Buhle JT, Silvers JA, Wager TD, Lopez R, Onyemekwu C, Kober H, et al.. Cognitive reappraisal of emotion: a meta-analysis of human neuroimaging studies. Cereb Cortex. 2014. PMID 23765157 · DOI · PMC4193464
- Grèzes J, Decety J. Functional anatomy of execution, mental simulation, observation, and verb generation of actions: a meta-analysis. Hum Brain Mapp. 2001. PMID 11198101 · DOI · PMC6872039
- Kober H, Barrett LF, Joseph J, Bliss-Moreau E, Lindquist K, Wager TD. Functional grouping and cortical-subcortical interactions in emotion: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Neuroimage. 2008. PMID 18579414 · DOI · PMC2752702
- Liu X, Hairston J, Schrier M, Fan J. Common and distinct networks underlying reward valence and processing stages: a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011. PMID 21185861 · DOI · PMC3395003
- Cortese S, Kelly C, Chabernaud C, Proal E, Di Martino A, Milham MP, et al.. Toward systems neuroscience of ADHD: a meta-analysis of 55 fMRI studies. Am J Psychiatry. 2012. PMID 22983386 · DOI · PMC3879048
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.