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MRI Methods for In-Vivo Cortical Parcellation

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Microstructural Parcellation of the Human Cerebral Cortex

Abstract

The advent of whole-body MRI scanners at field strengths as high as 7 T has enabled a dramatic improvement of the spatial resolution of human brain images, in all three major attributes: structure, function and neural connectivity. Structural imaging of entire living human brains with an isotropic resolution of 300–400 μm is now feasible. Such images allow the discrimination of discrete cortical areas based largely on their distinctive myeloarchitecture. This chapter describes the challenges that have to be overcome in creating such images. Sources of contrast in structural MR brain images are summarized. Rationales are then provided for the currently preferred acquisition techniques, which give good signal-to-noise ratios, and relative freedom from the effects of the non-uniformity of the radiofrequency magnetic fields relating to spin excitation and MR signal reception.

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  1. Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1A, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Robert Turner

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  1. , Department of Neurophysics, MPI Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

    Stefan Geyer

  2. , Department of Neurophysics, MPI Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1A, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

    Robert Turner

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Turner, R. (2013). MRI Methods for In-Vivo Cortical Parcellation. In: Geyer, S., Turner, R. (eds) Microstructural Parcellation of the Human Cerebral Cortex. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37824-9_7

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