A major function of the human brain is to mediate interactions with other people. Until recently, studying social interactions as they occur within the brain was not possible due to the lack of measurable methods to observe two interacting minds simultaneously. We have developed a novel MRI dual-head volume coil pair that can scan two subjects' brains simultaneously while the subjects are socially interacting in one MRI scanner. The feasibility of using this coil for dyadic functional MRI (fMRI) study has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. Meanwhile, an innovative robust scheme for decoupling two circular-polarized coils (not surface coils) is introduced in theory and validated in practice in the coil technology development.

Abstruct-Based on a successful 1 T Class PIT insert coil, we now pursue a 3 T Class insert c o i l . This paper describes the design and the l a t e s t conductor and coil test results, as well a s supporting experiments. The final product i s envisioned to contain 3 concentric s e c t i o n s , requiring over one kilometer of conductor. T h i s will be tested in a 20 T large bore r e s i s t i v e magnet at the NHMFL. Experimental work f o c u s e s on the use of conductor with a silver-alloy matrix in the outer sections, that are subject to t h e largest stresses when operated in a background field. Results from heat treatment o p t i m i z a t i o n for wound coils, mechanical test of conductors and coil design studies are reported.

With a dual-head volume coil (DHVC), the BOLD effects of two directly interacting brains were observed for the first time in a dyadic fMRI study between two friends when they were instructed to open and close their eyes, simultaneously (a) and alternately (b). The plots in (c) and (d) show the BOLD response time series in the temporal parietal junction area when opening and closing their eyes simultaneously (c) and alternately (d), from the article by Lee et al (pp 1087Lee et al (pp -1096.

No abstract

One of the major functions of the human brain is to mediate interactions with other people. Until recently, studying brain social interactions has not been possible due to the lack of measurable methods to observe two interacting minds simultaneously. We have developed a novel dual-head MRI coil that can scan two subjects' brains simultaneously while the subjects are socially interacting in one MRI scanner. Meanwhile, a novel scheme for decoupling two quadrature coils (not surface coils) is introduced and validated.