Optimized, T1 Weighted MPRAGE Images at 3T Identify Several Primary Areas in Individual Brains

Eyesha Hashim¹, Nicholas A. Bock¹

One way to study cortical organization is MRI of its myelin content. Myelin imaging of the cortex is challenging as myelin-contrast across the cortex is much lesser than myelin-contrast between the cortex and white matter. We have investigated optimization of MPRAGE, which is commonly used for structural brain imaging to achieve better intracortical contrast. We have found through simulation that increasing the time delay between acquisition blocks in MPRAGE can greatly increase intracortical contrast. In subjects imaged using this optimized sequence, we were able to delineate several primary areas on the digital surface extracted from anatomical scan.