In this project, we study the resolution limits of different high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods to resolve differences within the cerebral cortex.
Understanding brain development and decline is of utmost importance in an aging society. MRI Biophysics Research Group aims to uncover crucial mechanisms of human brain aging, by identifying the contribution of iron accumulation, a major determinant of brain development and brain decline.
We used high-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to explore how attentional modulation of working memory affects laminar specific representations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC).
Embedded in the clinical trial NISCI (Nogo inhibition in spinal cord injury: www.nisci-2020.eu), we employ whole brain quantitative imaging at 3 Tesla as a new biomarker for de- and regeneration.
We performed laminar fMRI during a delayed match-to-sample task and varied working memory load and the requirement for a motor response. We found layer specific univariate and multivariate effects.
In order to study the Basal Ganglia in relation to cortical areas, the used fMRI protocol has to be carefully adjusted with respect to its region of interest and the necessary signal under-sampling. We performed a study at a field strength of 7 Tesla investigating the dependence of the detected signal on the MR parameters employed.
A recent fMRI study showed layer-specific responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during a working memory task. We attempted to replicate the original findings using newly acquired data and a fully automated analysis.
We work on improving reliability of quantitative parametric maps by correcting for rigid head motion and B0-fluctuations measured during acquisition at 7T as well as by employing general function approximators to correct for artifacts of unknown origin at 3T.
In this project, we studied cortical myelin in living humans at the spatial scale of cortical columns using high-resolution quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods at 7 T.