Conclusion: probable and possible futures. MRI with ultra high magnetic field

MR neuroimaging does not interfere with brain function. Because it is safe, it can be used to study the brains of both patients and healthy volunteers. The tasks performed by neurons depend largely on their precise location, and high-field magnets have the potential to provide a 5- to 10-fold increase in spatiotemporal resolution. This should allow brain function to be studied on a scale of only a few thousand neurons, possibly at the intermediate scale of the " neural code ". NeuroSpin, a new CEA research center, is dedicated to neuro-MRI at high magnetic field stengths. As a forum for dialogue between those developing and those using these instruments, it brings together researchers and engineers, technicians and medical doctors. NeuroSpin is one of the few institutions in Europe, if not the world, where these experts can come together in one place to design, construct and use machines equipped with ultrastrong magnets. The strongest " routine " MR device currently operates at 3 Tesla (60 000 times the earth's magnetic field), whereas a first French system operating at 7 Tesla (140 000 times the earth's field) is now available for human studies, and another system operating at 11.7 Tesla (world record) should be delivered in 2011. Preclinical studies are also being conducted with magnets operating at 7 Tesla and, soon, 17.6 Tesla.