Stimulus presentation details
In general, we are trying to make the Stimulus Delivery as similar as possible to the MRI (see MRI stimulus delivery). The actual hardware used (computer, soundcard, videocard etc) is identical, as is almost all software. However, there are important differences, which we will expand here.
Computer & Software
The stimulus computer is a Dell PC, running Windows 10. The machine is networked, therefore data can be accessed from your home space by mapping a network drive to it. Those running a study from outside the unit will need to transfer their stimuli script from a memory device. This can be tricky because of security settings that require all external data sources to be scanned for viruses before use. Use a memory stick with as little on it as possible if you can, otherwise the scanning might take very long.
Stimulus presentation software is either E-Prime 2, Matlab, Presentation, Python, Psychopy or R. Input and output are through the parallel port for E-Prime, or through a National Instruments PCI6503 Card for Matlab. Presentation, Python, PsychoPy and R can use either input/output methods.
There is a switch to change between the Parallel Port and NI card on top of the STIM PC. Always check at the beginning of your experiment whether you see the correct triggers in the recording! If nothing is coming through check the switch is on your specific input/output port.
You can also include a little bit of code in your stimulus presentation script that checks for the right port (example for PsychToolbox).
Visual
Projector and screen
The visual presentation is done with a Propixx projector outside of the MSR, projecting though a periscope into the MSR onto a back-projection screen that is placed in front of the chair. There's a pair of markers on the floor where the screen should be positioned for correct focus. The matt side of the screen should be facing the projector, as this serves to minimise reflections.
The projected image is approximately 33 by 57 cm. The distance from the top edge of the helmet to the screen, which is about as far as the eye of the avarage subject, is 120 cm. The preferred screen resolution is 1024 * 768.
Take care that your stimulus presentation script takes the refresh rate into account. Visual stimuli will not be displayed with millisecond accuracy, but in multiples of a refresh cycle (e.g. ~16.7 ms at 120Hz). Your software may round latencies up or down. Look here for an example.
Important note on procedure
Note: Please NEVER turn the STIM machine on without the projector being switched on first. If the stimulation computer is turned on when the projector is off, it messes up the video settings as the computer will not see the projector anymore, so will set the LCD monitor to be the main one. It can, and should, be set to stand-by, using the 0 and 1 buttons on the remote. Just do not use the main switch on the side. There's a sign with some help on how to use the projector on the wall in the control room.
Latency
Using a light diode, we have measured a 9-10ms delay (as of 07/02/2024) between the trigger codes sent from the stimulus PC (synchronised with a screen refresh) to, eg, the MEG machine, and the actual visual change on the screen in the MEG room. This time will therefore need to be added to the times of trigger codes in the MEG data. The EN acquisition software will actually enable you to specify this delay for a visual event in the acquisition setup. When specifying this the corresponding trigger will be delayed by the correct amount of time, and will be in sync with the actual presentation again.
Maximum refresh rate
The current set refresh rate is 120 Hz (as of 07/02/2024, before that date it was 60Hz with a delay of 17-18ms).
The propixx projector and STIM28 monitor are capable of up to 144Hz presentation but according to propixx documentation this is restricted to specific stimuli presentation otherwise you may experience dropped frames, erratic display.
Changing the refresh rates on the system is not allowed without the MEG lab manager/Head of methods approval.
Projector specifics
The central wavelengths for the red, green and blue 'guns' are 610nm, 550nm and 472nm respectively.
Auditory
Sound Card
The stimulus delivery computer has a SoundBlaster ZxR soundcard.
Sound Latency
Up to December 2014 we used the Xonar Essence STX soundcard, which produced a latency of 33ms with a jitter of +/- 3ms. From January 2015 the soundcard is a SoundBlaster ZxR. Between January 2015-December 2022 the latency was 26ms +/- 2ms jitter. The length of tube was increased December 2022 and the current latency is 28ms with +/- 2ms jitter. These latencies are measured at the inserts, so include the delay caused by the 3.5 meter of tube the sound has to travel through (which is approximately 3.5m / (343 m/s) (speed of sound in air), ie ~10ms).
Headphones
The headphones supplied by Elekta Neuromag are not able to produce high quality sound. On top of that they aren't completely free of magnetic artifacts either. We do not use them anymore. Instead, we've installed a set of higher quality headphones outside of the MSR, with 3.5 meter of tube attached. These tubes enter the MSR on the right side of the MEG machine.
In addition the sound output of the stimulus computer can be recorded in the fif output file of the MEG acquisition system. To enable this you only have to add the channel 'MISC5' to your setup.
The headphones are in-ear types. Use a new pair of inserts for each subject, and dispose of any used inserts immediately. It is easier to insert the eartips before the volunteer goes into the MSR, as this can be fiddly.
It is very important that you make sure that your soundfiles are created as loud as is possible, without distorting the sound. Make sure you adjust your recording level correctly during the actual recording, and adjust the level in a sound editor if needed.
Measurements for the headphone system are here: MEG tube phones with silicone inserts.pdf. These still used the previous Xonar Essence STX soundcard, but we do not expect the new SoundBlaster ZxR card to have much of an effect on this.
Sound test
A script, called 'FindThresholds', is available on the desktop of the stimulus presentation computer to test if the headphones are inserted properly. The subject will need a pair of button boxes and when the script is started sounds are played to both ears for a couple of minutes while the subject is asked to press the button on the side of the sound when they hear one.
When the script terminates it will report two numbers, one for the right ear and one for the left ear. These numbers are the attenuation, in dB, that can be applied to the test tone before the subject is unable to hear it. Normal values are from 45 to 75 dB. The difference between the left and the right ear should ideally not be more than 10 dB. The default test tone used is a 1000 Hz pure tone of about 1 second at maximum loudness.
During an MEG recording, the sound output is recorded in channel Misc005.
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