MRI Records Vocal Movements at 100 FPS

[Guest_Jim_*]

Our voices and how we speak are part of how we stand apart from each other, but as we age, these can change. Over time the muscles and tissues involved degrade, leading to weaker or strained voices, but some researchers at the Beckman Institute are interested in finding ways to prevent or reverse this. To that end the researchers have used an advanced MRI technique that allows for detailed images to be captured at an unprecedented speed of 100 frames per second.

There are over one hundred muscles involved with speech, spanning from our chest and neck to our jaw, tongue, and lips. To understand how they all work together and how they change over time, the researchers needed a view inside the human body, while the subject was speaking. Actually the subject was singing 'If I Only Had a Brain.' Obviously the person does, as you can see it in the MRI, and much more. The MRI technique was also developed at the Beckman Institute, and at 100 FPS is significantly faster than any other technique. Typical MRIs operate at around 10 FPS.

 

 

Source: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology