The thalamus plays an important role in regulating brain states, but remains poorly understood due to the technical challenges in imaging small brain structures with simultaneous electrophysiology. We implemented simultaneous fast fMRI and EEG at 7 Tesla to achieve high-SNR imaging of thalamic dynamics during human sleep. We found that we could detect selective activity within a focal set of thalamic nuclei that preceded the moment of awakening. These results identify potential network mechanisms engaged in regulating brain states, and demonstrate the potential for multimodal 7T imaging to identify new roles for deep brain structures in regulating cortical function and cognition.
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