Recent progress in high-resolution functional MRI

Purpose of review For functional MRI (fMRI), as for any imaging technique, the higher the spatial resolution, the more the details it can reveal. This review will discuss the factors restricting the spatial resolution of fMRI, describe high-resolution fMRI (HR-fMRI) applications in neuroscience and outline a few research areas for future HR-fMRI studies. Recent findings HR-fMRI has been successfully used to map fine cortical architectures and reveal cortical laminar structures and subcortical structures. HR-fMRI has also played important roles in resolving controversies regarding modular representations in the ventral visual pathway and interpretations of multivariate pattern analysis results. Summary Real-time HR-fMRI as well as high-resolution anatomical MRI may emerge as indispensable tools for surgical planning, diagnosis of neurological diseases and targeting of deep brain stimulation.