fMRI at UHF: Perspectives for

basic and clinical neuroscience

Ultra-High-Field (UHF) 7Tesla MR systems have become more common in the past few years and promise benefits for improved imaging due to i) increased signal to noise ratio allowing higher spatial resolutions, ii) longer T1 relaxation beneficial for Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) perfusion MRI, and iii) shortened T2 reducing the venous contributions to BOLD signal. Furthermore, for functional imaging, improved SNR allows for higher spatial (e.g. laminar fMRI) or temporal resolution imaging.

At the Center for Image Acquisition at the USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute we have worked with a 7T Siemens Magnetom Terra MR system for the past six years and our Laboratory of Functional MRI Technology (LOFT) aims at improving imaging protocols to provide better spatial sensitivity and resolution using the most commonly used imaging contrasts, including BOLD, VASO and ASL. The cumulation of these efforts was the development of a fMRI sequence for simultaneous measurement of blood flow, blood volume, T2-BOLD and CMRO2 activation with high spatial resolution and specificity to detect layer-dependent vascular and metabolic activities.

In this talk, we will showcase several studies that demonstrate the capabilities of UHF and discuss perspectives for basic and clinical neurosciences.

https://loft-lab.org/

The lecture will beheld as virtual meeting broadcast via Zoom https://unibe-ch.zoom.us/j/66256483922?pwd=aE1kTFg5aUZza1JmWEJxZDVsdnV5dz09

For further info please contact: karin.zwygart@insel.ch