Human fMRI at 10.5T: new regimes of high resolutions

Motivation: Submillimeter fMRI allows imaging the human brain noninvasively at the mesoscopic scale, targeting layers and columns. Standard submillimeter resolution however may be inadequate to fully capture these ensembles. Consequently, the Brain Initiative challenged the MR community to achieve 0.1µL, and subsequently, 0.01µL voxel resolutionGoal(s): Achieve and surpass the goal of human functional mapping at 0.1µL, towards the goal of 0.01µL using a 10.5T scanner. Approach: We recorded human functional BOLD responses at 10.5T, during visual experiments, at different spatial resolutions. Results: Using 10.5T and NORDIC denoising we demonstrate functional imaging the human brain with <0.1µL resolution. Impact: We demonstrate functional mapping at 10.5 T with unprecedented spatial resolutions, moving towards the 0.01µL voxel volume goal (Brain Initiative 2.0). At these resolutions single voxels contain a few thousand neurons, heralding major new opportunities in human neuroscience.