MRI Lab general¶
MRI lab heads: Nadège Bault & Matt Roser
Table of Contents
Starting a new study¶
Lab resources¶
Information about our MRI scanner the Siemens Prisma 3T can be found here link
Safety and ethics¶
See these documents for details of BRIC MR Safety and Operating rules and policies.
BRIC Safety and Risk Operational Policy
Safety training¶
Before being able to access the MRI lab, you will need to complete a safety training. Safety training sessions may be ran monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the needs, in small groups. Please contact the lab heads (BRIC.MRI-lab.heads@plymouth.ac.uk).
Safety questionnaires must be filled by staff and research participants before they can enter the restricted MRI environment.
General information for participants¶
This general information form contains information for patients/participants about the MRI environment, how to prepare for a session and how to come to BRIC. Please add your contact information at the end of the form before sending it to your participants!
Developing and testing a task¶
You should book a phantom pilot session before your start your data collection.
MRI Peripherals and Experimental Software¶
We have a range of peripherals that allow researchers to conduct psychological experiments in the MRI.
Stimulus presentation¶
Cambridge Research BOLDScreen 32
This 1920x1080 @120 Hz screen is positioned at the top of the bore and can present visual stimuli which are viewable in the scanner using the mirror attachment.
The Getting Started guide is available here.
BOLDScreen32_Getting_Started
Cambridge Research BOLDfonic Audio System
This system allows audio delivery, trigger control and synhronisation with the BOLDScreen.
The User guide is available here.
BOLDfonic_MR Confon_User_Guide
Response devices¶
We have a set of HHSC-2x4-C response buttons. One is labelled for use in the right hand.
We have a HHSC-JOY-5 Tethyx Joystick
Response devices input optical signals to the FIU-932Universal fORP Interface. The fORP box also receives the optical trigger sent by the scanner at the start of each volume acquisition.
For studies using the button boxes the fORP box should be set as shown in photo. Check that the display is not flashing. This can happen if the experimental machine goes to sleep. Restart the box if flashing.
The buttons output ascii characters via USB to the experimental computer. Running from BLUE to RED the outputs are:
- right hand
bygr
- left hand
ewnd
The two rows of LEDs show incoming responses using the buttons. The LED at the bottom of the rightmost pair shows the scanner trigger. The top is power.
For studies using the Joystick the fORP box should be set according to these available options. Use the right wheel to scroll.
- HD Joystick
buttons act as mouse click.
- Joystick Mouse
works as a mouse with click.
- HID Joy Comp
non-responsive.
More information on using the fORP932 is available here:
Getting Started fORP932
and on this manufacturer website
Experimental software¶
In the MRI control room is a Windows desktop computer running experimental software including:
PsychoPy,
Presentation,
Matlab Psychtoolbox,
OpenSesame. We do not recommend the use of OpenSesame for time-critical designs. OpenSesame is not suitable as the timming accuracy is too low.
This machine receives input from the fORP932 as keyboard events. You can use these to record responses and to record or sync to the scanner trigger.