Abstract #0893

Barth M, Norris D

We propose a very high-resolution, 3D gradient echo technique with a two-fold partial parallel imaging acceleration to perform fMRI using a block design at isotropic sub-millimeter resolution (0.75x0.75x0.75mm3). Visual stimulation leads to very robust activation in primary visual areas. Using this technique it is also possible to directly identify and remove large vein effects from activation maps. Results show that this procedure clearly improves the quality of activation maps and that the remaining portion is highly localized to grey matter. Despite the relatively long measurement time this technique holds promise for the identification of small functional units.