A full-size MRI-compatible keyboard response system

Two commercially available plastic keyboards were contrasted in the degree to which they interfered with echo planar imaging. One keyboard (GrandTec USA's “Virtually Indestructible Keyboard”) caused significantly less temporally variant and invariant signal loss and was integrated into a MRI interface system for recording participants' manual motor responses. The response recording system is safe, accurately records reaction time behavioral data, and does not interfere with functional data collection. Implementing this MRI-compatible keyboard allows the collection of motor responses from complex manual behaviors (i.e., typing) and thus represents a valuable tool for functional MRI (fMRI) studies.