Magnetic resonance imaging of neuro-electro-magnetic oscillations

An MRI system, comprising:

• an MR scanner;
• a circuit in communication with or at least partially onboard the MR scanner, the circuit comprising a neuro-electro-magnetic oscillations (NEMO) module;
• and
• a head coil in communication with the NEMO module,
• wherein the circuit and/or MR scanner is configured to electronically transmit a pulse sequence to a subject, wherein the pulse sequence comprises a first radiofrequency (RF) excitation pulse applied along a first axis followed by a spin-lock pulse applied along a second different axis and having a frequency, followed by a second RF excitation pulse, and wherein the circuit obtains MR image signal of neuroelectric activity associated with evoked and/or spontaneous neuroelectric oscillations and generates a neuroactivation map based on the obtained MR image signal, and
• wherein the pulse sequence is carried out so that the spin-lock pulse is turned OFF once a defined nutation angle θ of signal magnetization (M) is reached, then spoiler gradients are applied to dephase and eliminate Mx and My signal components before the second RF excitation pulse is applied and so that only Mz signal is obtained as the MR image signal after the second RF excitation pulse.