High-field strength functional MRI

Abstract

10.5 Conclusions: The use of high magnetic field strength fMRI units has the potential for improving considerably the sensitivity and specificity of functional studies. As a result of the high-field studies, fundamental neural dynamics taking place at a very small dimensional scale in specific laminar, columnar and multicolumnar domains have become directly visible. The advantages in terms of spatial resolution, temporal resolution, BOLD signal changes and noise behaviour depend on the acquisition sequence and on the practical combination of the acquisition parameters with the local microscopic brain structure. Nevertheless, high-field units can be expected to improve significantly the quality of the fMRI results and the level of neurophysiological information it is possible to gather from the data. The concurrent use of tailored processing strategies can make even more convenient the use of high-field systems. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.