Cerebellar imaging for neuroscience at 9.4T

Purpose - This study explored the possibility of visualising cerebellar structure and function invivo with a 9.4T protocol suitable for neuroscientific experiments.Methods - 6 healthy individuals were scanned with a 9.4T acquisition protocol including functional runs using BOLD-weighted 3D EPI at 0.8mm and.0 mm isotropic resolution, and a 0.4 mm MP2RAGE covering the entire cerebellum to derive cerebellar cortical surfaces.Results - Scan sessions took approximately one hour, a duration generally well tolerated in (cognitive) neuroscience experiments. A generalized B1 shim over the cerebellum provided sufficient contrast for grey-white matter segmentation and surface generation in all participants. A motor-task paradigm yielded consistent responses in both hemispheres in theposterior and anterior cerebellar lobes.Conclusion - These experiments show that it is feasible to undertake neuroscientific experiments in the human cerebellum using 9.4T MRI. The increased SNR and BOLD sensitivity benefit both structural and functional acquisitions and derivatives such as cortical surfaces generated from these data.