Cardiac and respiration-induced brain deformations in humans quantified with high-field MRI

Microvascular blood volume pulsations due to the cardiac and respiratory cycles induce brain tissue deformation and, as such, are considered to drive the brain's waste clearance system. We have developed a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to quantify both cardiac and respiration-induced tissue deformations, which could not be assessed noninvasively before. The technique acquires motion encoded snapshot images in which...