Eugenia Solano-Castiella1, Gabriele Lohmann1,
Andreas Schfer1, Robert Trampel1, Robert Turner1
1Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute,
Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
The
amygdala is a relatively small brain structure. Its location next to the
sphenoidal sinus results in a variety of MR image artifacts, which increase
with field strength. However, brain scanning at 7T provides considerable
improvement of SNR and CNR having the potential for in vivo parcellation of
amygdala images into neurologically significant subdivisions that may improve
interpretation of fMRI-based neuropsychological studies. To improve clustering
we used the strategy of combining images (GRE and TSE) having different
contrast mechanisms. The analysis and clustering techniques we have developed
for this purpose may assist parcellation of other deep brain structures.