Ultra-High Field Imaging of Human Visual Cognition

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the key methodology for mapping the functions of the human brain in a noninvasive manner, is limited by low temporal and spatial resolution. Recent advances in ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI provide a mesoscopic (i.e., submillimeter resolution) tool that allows us to probe laminar and columnar circuits, distinguish bottom-up versus top-down pathways, and map small subcortical areas. We review recent work demonstrating that UHF fMRI provides a robust methodology for imaging the brain across cortical depths and columns that provides insights into the brain's organization and functions at unprecedented spatial resolution, advancing our understanding of the fine-scale computations and interareal communication that support visual cognition.

Keywords: columnar imaging; cortical layers; subcortical imaging; ultra-high field fMRI.