New imaging method makes fMRI quieter and clearer for brain–behavior research

Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, gives researchers a powerful way to study brain activity. But the scans can be incredibly noisy for patients and research subjects, with peak sound levels reaching 120 to 138 decibels—about as loud as a jackhammer.

Yen-Yu Ian Shih, Ph.D., professor of neurology and associate director of the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC) at the UNC School of Medicine, is working to address that challenge. Shih and his research team have developed a new functional brain imaging technique that quiets fMRI scans, resulting in clearer, more accurate images.

“SORDINO is something we now use regularly in our lab for a variety of neuroscience research projects,” said Shih, who was senior author of the study. “It has really simplified our day-to-day fMRI experiments. We hope SORDINO will help other researchers overcome some of the technical barriers that have long complicated fMRI studies and eventually bring similar advances to human MRI.”

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