Cerebellar imaging for neuroscience at 9.4 T

This study explored the possibility of visualizing cerebellar structure and function in vivo with a 9.4 T protocol suitable for neuroscientific experiments.

Six healthy individuals were scanned with a 9.4 T acquisition protocol including functional runs using BOLD-weighted 3D EPI at 0.8 and 1.0 mm isotropic resolution, and a 0.4 mm MP2RAGE covering the entire cerebellum to derive cerebellar cortical surfaces.

Scan sessions took approximately 1 h, a duration generally well tolerated in (cognitive) neuroscience experiments. A generalized B₁ shim over the cerebellum provided sufficient contrast for gray-white matter segmentation and surface generation in all participants. A motor-task paradigm yielded consistent responses in both hemispheres in the posterior and anterior cerebellar lobes.

These experiments show that it is feasible to undertake neuroscientific experiments in the human cerebellum using 9.4 T MRI. The increased SNR and BOLD sensitivity benefit both structural and functional acquisitions and derivatives such as cortical surfaces generated from these data.