NIH highlights UNC Neurology researcher’s newly developed silent functional MRI (fMRI) technique created to improve biomedical research.
UNC School of Medicine’s Yen-Yu Ian Shih, PhD, Vice Chair for Research at the UNC Department of Neurology, is working to transform functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods. Shih, who is also associate director of UNC’s Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), and his team have used their 9.4T small animal MRI scanner, funded by the UNC School of Medicine Office of Research and an S10 Shared Instrumentation Grant, to develop a silent functional MRI (fMRI) technique to advance the imaging of small animals and other sensitive study subjects.
“This work represents a major step for us to close the gap between brain-wide functional imaging and naturalistic behavior,” said Shih. “Traditional MRI scanning is acoustically very loud, which inevitably poses stress to animal subjects. With the SORDINO technique, we can now image awake, behaving mice, opening the door to study complex behaviors like learning, decision-making, motor control, and social interactions in a way that wasn’t previously feasible in our hands.”
The Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), houses two 9.4T MRI systems as part of a shared research facility supporting a broad range of small animal studies – from neuroscience and pharmacology to physics, chemistry, and cancer research. The facility is also part of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.
“I’d like to highlight the matching funds support from the SOM Office of Research, OVCR, CAS, LCCC, BRIC, Neurology, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Radiology, the Neuroscience Center, and Cell Biology and Physiology, which plays a crucial role in the success of our two S10 awards,” said Shih. “It takes a team of visionary leaders to build cutting-edge resources like this, and I’m honored to work alongside them.”
This project was recently featured as a Research Highlight on the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Program (ORIP) website.
