7T-fMRI: Faster temporal resolution yields optimal BOLD sensitivity for functional network imaging specifically at high spatial resolution (original) (raw)

Recent developments in accelerated imaging methods allow faster acquisition of high spatial resolution images. This could improve the applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T (7T-fMRI), such as neurosurgical planning and Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). However, increasing the spatial and temporal resolution will both lead to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) losses due to decreased signal intensity and T1-relaxation effect, respectively. This could potentially offset the SNR efficiency gains made with increasing temporal resolution. We investigated the effects of varying spatial and temporal resolution on fMRI sensitivity measures and their implications on fMRI-based BCI simulations. We compared temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR), normalized percent signal change (%∆S), volumes of significant activation, Z-scores and decoding performance of linear classifiers commonly used in BCIs across a range of spatial and temporal resolution images acquired during an ankle-ta...