The frames are shown at a resolution of approximately 0.5mm/pixel for the main image
(and 1mm/pixel for the smaller cross-reference images).
Slices (i.e. each frame in the movies) are at intervals of 4mm for the sagittal and axial volumes, and 5mm for the coronal volumes.
Further notes on the MRI images:
Bone (including teeth) is hardly distinguishable from air (dark blue).
High intensity parts of
the images (shades of yellow) generally correspond to fatty tissue (including bone
marrow).
Muscular tissue is generally at an intermediate intensity level (light shades of blue).
Links to the nine films are given here. See below for explanatory material.
/i/ sagittal
/a/ sagittal
/u/ sagittal
/i/ coronal
/a/ coronal
/u/ coronal
/i/ axial
/a/ axial
/u/ axial
Points to look out for:
Although /a/ is described as an open vowel, it is important to realize that this applies
to the mouth opening, whereas in the pharyngeal region the vocal tract can be very
strongly constricted. This can be seen very well in the axial images.
Although /u/ is described as a back vowel (like /a/), note that the lower pharynx is very
wide, as in /i/ (best seen in the sagittal images).
Note the grooving in the back of the tongue for /i/ (observable in the axial images).
This can be attributed to the action of the posterior genioglossus (whose fibres are
mostly close to the midline), pulling the back of the tongue forwards and causing the
front of the tongue to bunch upwards.