Researchers have developed a new, noninvasive method for measuring brain blood flow with light and used to detect brain activation. The new method, functional interferometric diffusing wave spectroscopy, or fiDWS, promises to be cheaper than existing technology and could be used for assessing brain injuries, or in neuroscience research. The work appears in “Now we can assess how well the brain regulates blood flow, and even detect brain activation noninvasively in adult humans, using principles similar to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but at a fraction of the cost,” says senior author Vivek Srinivasan, adjunct associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Davis.