The power of ultra-high field for cognitive neuroscience: Gray-matter optimized fMRI

TY - CHAP

T1 - The power of ultra-high field for cognitive neuroscience: Gray-matter optimized fMRI

AU - Dumoulin, Serge O.

AU - Knapen, T

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI at 7 Tesla or more stands to revolutionize cognitive neuroscience due to its greatly improved sensitivity and specificity. Recent findings demonstrate that when spatial resolution is optimized to specifically sample gray matter, i.e., gray-matter optimized fMRI, this brings the information-processing characteristics of local neuronal populations in the living human brain into clear view. This has several profound implications for human cognitive neuroscience. First, by reinforcing the notion that we are sampling local neuronal population responses, UHF fMRI reorients cognitive neuroscience to a deeper focus on the underlying biological and computational mechanisms. Second, by showcasing the uniqueness of individual brains at the detailed information-processing level, UHF fMRI changes how we approach analyses across groups of individuals. This realization has deep consequences for standard practices in cognitive neuroscience, as well as the possible clinical utility of fMRI. We argue that by heeding these implications, UHF fMRI can usher in a paradigm shift in cognitive neuroscience toward high-SNR measurements in individuals.

AB - Ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI at 7 Tesla or more stands to revolutionize cognitive neuroscience due to its greatly improved sensitivity and specificity. Recent findings demonstrate that when spatial resolution is optimized to specifically sample gray matter, i.e., gray-matter optimized fMRI, this brings the information-processing characteristics of local neuronal populations in the living human brain into clear view. This has several profound implications for human cognitive neuroscience. First, by reinforcing the notion that we are sampling local neuronal population responses, UHF fMRI reorients cognitive neuroscience to a deeper focus on the underlying biological and computational mechanisms. Second, by showcasing the uniqueness of individual brains at the detailed information-processing level, UHF fMRI changes how we approach analyses across groups of individuals. This realization has deep consequences for standard practices in cognitive neuroscience, as well as the possible clinical utility of fMRI. We argue that by heeding these implications, UHF fMRI can usher in a paradigm shift in cognitive neuroscience toward high-SNR measurements in individuals.

M3 - Chapter

VL - 10

SP - 407

EP - 418

BT - Ultra-high field neuro MRI. Advances in magnetic resonance technology and applications.

ER -