Synopsis

The human fMRI experiments performed in CMRR, University of Minnesota, were motivated by the elucidation of the BOLD effect and the plan to establish a 4Tesla human imaging system in CMRR. These were the first experiments carried out on the 4T after it became operational. The effort produced several seminal papers in 1992 and 1993, reporting on successful functional mapping in the human brain, modeling of BOLD effect with implications on micro- versus macro-vascular contributions and the effect of the magnetic field strength, and experimental demonstration of the draining vein confound, leading to the development of 7 Tesla for fMRI.