New Addition to Social Behavior Lab

We are excited to announce that the Social Behavior Lab is now equipped with cutting-edge fNIRS technology (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy). This non-invasive imaging tool measures brain activity by monitoring changes in blood oxygen levels, allowing us to explore neural processes in real-time. Our new fNIRS system will support a wide range of studies, from individual block and event-related paradigms to advanced social interaction research using hyperscanning procedures.

Explore the Capabilities of fNIRS

Please watch these short videos to learn more about fNIRS and its applications in our lab.

Violin Hyperscanning Study
fNIRS Setup
Intro to fNIRS

Violin Hyperscanning Study

Link to Study

fNIRS Setup

Intro to fNIRS

How To Get Started

Accessing the fNIRS Equipment

Equipment Reservation Requirements:

  • To access the fNIRS equipment, individuals must first review and sign the fNIRS documentation and policy, which includes completing the reservation eligibility requirements. Instructions and materials required for these steps are available in the online scheduling system under the “Documentation” section. First, please review the “Access to fNIRS Equipment” PDF, located in the Documentation section of the online scheduling system, for a comprehensive overview of the reservation process. To proceed, individuals must be registered users of the online scheduling system, which requires approval from the Lab Coordinator. Please contact the Lab Coordinator to obtain the necessary approval.

Equipment Reservation Procedures:

  • Scheduling Procedures: Users must log in to the online scheduling system to reserve the fNIRS equipment, adhering to the weekly usage limit of 10 hours. Ensure all fNIRS equipment reservations comply with the weekly usage limit to obtain approval from the Lab Coordinator. Additionally, users must reserve a separate experimental room for conducting the fNIRS study, which requires a separate OmniLock code. 
  • Approval: All reservations for the fNIRS equipment must receive approval from the Lab Coordinator. This approval ensures that the reservations comply with the Usage Agreement and Safety Precautions Form, are made by an authorized user, and adhere to the weekly 10-hour limit.

Assistance: For assistance with accessing the fNIRS equipment, please contact the Lab Coordinator at evansalv@usc.edu.

Cap Policy

Cap Kits:

  • Policy: Each lab is responsible for purchasing and maintaining their own cap kit.
  • Purpose: This ensures that each lab can maintain their own study’s montage setup between data collection sessions.
  • Reminder: Please note that some components cannot be replaced individually. For example, if a single unit is damaged, it may be necessary to replace the entire bundle.

Purchasing:

  • Quote: Refer to the attached sample cap kit quote from 2023 for pricing information.
  • Contact: For current pricing and ordering, contact sales@nirx.net

Best Practices

Equipment Setup:

  • Follow the setup instructions for software and hardware of NIRSport2 system and optodes provided in the Independent Training Materials.
  • Ensure that all components are clean and in proper working order before use.
  • Use your own computer for data acquisition. For effective usage, NIRx’s software requires 8-16GB memory, a CPU at least as powerful as Intel i5, a modern GPU (i.e. one with 3D acceleration), and a 64-bit processor architecture natively running Windows 10 or above. For more detailed and up-to-date information, see NIRx’s support site for data acquisition, the user manual for NIRSite, and/or the Additional Materials found under the Independent Training Materials. 

 Care and Maintenance:

    • Handle the equipment with CARE, especially optodes (i.e. the optic probes).
    • NEVER expose optodes to (i.e., abrasive eeg gel), push optodes against the optical surface of active probes (may dislocate or damage the optics), use ethanol or methanol for cleaning of probe surfaces (fibers not suitable for autoclaving), and submerge probes into water, isopropyl alcohol or any other fluid.
    • BRING BACK fNIRS equipment back to its storage facility room after the end of reservation time. 
  • Report any issues or malfunctions to Lab Coordinator immediately.

Resources:

  • Independent Training Materials is the official training materials for SBL fNIRS equipment. This contains modules of  NIRx guides that explain all necessary steps of data-processing pipelines for NIRSport2. These can only be accessed via the online scheduling system.
  • Comprehensive instructional and training materials can be found here: fNIRS Bootcamp (Jan 2019) – YouTube
  • Additional NIRx webinars can be found here: https://nirx.net/webinars
  • Manufacturing site NIRSport2 product overview: https://nirx.net/nirsport