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Updated: May 31, 2026
High-resolution Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods for Human Midbrain
Published on: May 10, 2012
Recent progress in high-resolution functional MRI
1Support Unit for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and Laboratory for Cognitive Brain Mapping, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama, Japan. kcheng@riken.jp
Purpose Of Review:
For functional MRI (fMRI), as for any imaging technique, the higher the spatial resolution, the more the details it can reveal. This review will discuss the factors restricting the spatial resolution of fMRI, describe high-resolution fMRI (HR-fMRI) applications in neuroscience and outline a few research areas for future HR-fMRI studies.
Recent Findings:
HR-fMRI has been successfully used to map fine cortical architectures and reveal cortical laminar structures and subcortical structures. HR-fMRI has also played important roles in resolving controversies regarding modular representations in the ventral visual pathway and interpretations of multivariate pattern analysis results.
Summary:
Real-time HR-fMRI as well as high-resolution anatomical MRI may emerge as indispensable tools for surgical planning, diagnosis of neurological diseases and targeting of deep brain stimulation.
