Functional MRI based on blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast has become an indispensable method for mapping effective and functional connectivity. However, subject to intrinsic resolution limit, fMRI cannot be used to directly explore cellular and neurovascular mechanisms underlying BOLD contrast at microscopic scale. To overcome this obstacle, a novel integrated two-photon fluorescence microscopy (TPM)-MRI system at ultrahigh field of 16.4 tesla is proposed and developed. This multimodal neuroimaging tool will enable noninvasive and simultaneous measurement of neurophysiological change and fMRI signal with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity, thus, bridging microscopic neural and vascular dynamics with macroscopic brain networks.
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