Welcome to the first lab of the rest of your life. This lab is about the future. It is about creation. Of an fMRI experiment. Not just any fMRI experiment, but an fMRI experiment that will probably work. No guarantees, though.
The first two parts primarily deal with making a behavioral task that is optimal given both the unique properties of BOLD signal and the specific comparisons you plan on testing:
Part 1. Making BOLD Predictions
Part 2. Optimization of Event-Related Design Efficiency
The last part will introduce you to a tool - fMRIPower - that you can use to calculate power for fMRI studies and, in particular, estimate the number of participants you will need plan on collecting to have sufficient power to detect your effects of interest: