Danish National 7T MR Project

As of 2015, the DRCMR operates one of the strongest MR scanners worldwide and the only one of its caliber in Denmark. The purchase of ths state-of-the-art MR system from Phillips Healthcare was made possible by the John and Birthe Meyer Foundation and the Danish Agence for Science, Technology and Innovation.

The field strength of 7 tesla (T) corresponds with roughly 140.000 times the earth magnetic field and is generated by a 44 ton superconducting electromagnet with its inner part cooled 7T log final by liquid helium to around -270°C/-450 °F/3 K.

The ultra-high magnetic field strength of 7T enables us to uncover structure, function and chemistry of the body’s interior with unprecedented precision. As such, it gives us a much more detailed insight into human (patho)physiology as compared to clinical MR scanners, which typically range from 1.5 to 4T. Particularly brain research benefits from the ultra-high field strength.

In the scope of the Danish National 7T MR Project, the 7T scanner is available as a research resource to the whole of Denmark. 7T MR scanners are not approved for clinical use, hence the scanner is fully dedicated to research.

Current 7T projects include:

Brain diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and spectroscopy (DWS) in multiple sclerosis (MS)
Brain proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in schizophrenia
Brain 1H-MRS, structural imaging and cognition across the lifespan
Liver carbon (13C) MRS in diabetes
A particular focus lies on the development of new MR methodologies and hardware.

National collaborations involve:

Technical University of Denmark
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen University Hospitals

International collaborations have been established with:

Lund University, Sweden
Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands
Korea Basic Science Institute, South Korea

Selected Publications

Recent publications & Pre-prints

Naiara Demnitz, Oliver J. Hulme, Hartwig R. Siebner, Michael Kjaer, Klaus P. Ebmeier, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, Claire M. Gillan (2023). Characterising the covariance pattern between lifestyle factors and structural brain measures: a multivariable replication study of two independent ageing cohorts, Neurobiology of Aging, Volume 131,2023, Pages 115-123, ISSN 0197-4580,IF 3.7.

TH Siebner, JD Hove, CF Madelung, OJ Hulme, F Bendtsen, HR Siebner, Flemming Bendtsen, Mads Barløse (2024). No difference in postprandial mesenteric blood flow between healthy younger and elderly individuals, Scientific Reports 14 (1), 8689.

TS Hjerresen, M Bentz, AB Nejad, E Raffin, KW Andersen, OJ Hulme, Hartwig Roman Siebner, Kerstin Jessica Plessen. Performing well but not appreciating it–A trait feature of anorexia nervosa. JCPP advances 4 (1), e12194.

Oliver Hulme, Arne Vanhoyweghen, Colm Connaughton, Ole Peters, Simon Steinkamp, Alexander Adamou, Dominik Baumann, Vincent Ginis, Bert Verbruggen, James Price, and Benjamin Skjold (2023). Reply to “The Limitations of Growth-Optimal Approaches to Decision Making Under Uncertainty”. Econ Journal Watch, 20(2) p335-348.

Hulme Oliver J., Roulston Barrie, Overgaard Morten (2023). Does report modality modulate psychophysical sensitivity? The jury remains out. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1226588.

Thorup AAE,… Hulme OJ, … Nordentoft M (2022). The Danish High-Risk and Resilience Study-VIA 15 - A Study Protocol for the Third Clinical Assessment of a Cohort of 522 Children Born to Parents Diagnosed With Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder and Population-Based Controls. Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Lopez-Yepez JS, Martin J, Hulme OJ, Kvitsiani D. (2021). A normative account of choice history effects in mice and humans. PloS Computational Biology.

Lopez-Yepez JS, Martin J, Hulme OJ, Kvitsiani D. (2021)
A normative account of choice history effects in mice and humans
PLoS Computational Biology

Meder D, Rabe F, Morville T, Madsen KH, Koudahl MT, Dolan RJ, Siebner HR, Hulme OJ. (2021)
Ergodicity-breaking reveals time optimal economic behavior in humans
PLoS Computational Biology

Morville T, Friston KJ, Burdakov D, Siebner HR, Hulme OJ. (Pre-print)
The Homeostatic Logic of Reward
bioRxiv, doi.org/10.1101/242974.

Morville T, Madsen K, Siebner HR, Hulme OJ. (2021)
Reward signaling in brainstem nuclei under glycemic flux
PloS One

Hulme, OJ, Wagenmakers EJ, Damkier P, Madelung CF, Siebner HR, Helweg-Larsen J, Gronau Q, Benfield TL, Madsen KH. (2021) A Bayesian reanalysis of the effects of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin on viral carriage in patients with COVID-19.
PloS One. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245048

Friston KJ, Parr T, Zeidman P, Razi A, Flandin G, Daunizau J, Hulme OJ, Billig AJ., Litvak V, Price CJ., Moran RJ., Costello A, Pillay D, Lambert C. (2020)
Effective immunity and second waves: a dynamic causal modelling study
Wellcome Open Res2020, 5:204 (doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16253.2)

van der Vegt JPM, Hulme OJ, Madsen KH, Buhmann C, Bloem BR, Münchau A, Helmich RC, Siebner HR (2020)
Dopamine agonist treatment increases sensitivity to gamble outcomes in the hippocampus in de novo Parkinson’s disease
NeuroImage Clinical

Faranda D, Castillo IP, Hulme OJ, Jezequel A, Lamb J, Sato Y, Thompson E, (2020)
Asymptotic estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection counts and their sensitivity to stochastic perturbation
Chaos. 2020;30(5):051107. doi:10.1063/5.0008834

Friston KJ, Parr T, Zeidman P, Razi A, Flandin G, Daunizau J, Hulme OJ, Billig AJ, Litvak V, Price CJ, Moran RJ., Lambert C. (2020)
Second waves, social distancing, and the spread of COVID-19 across America.
Wellcome Open Res 2020, 5:103 (doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15986.1)

Friston KJ, Parr T, Zeidman P, Razi A, Flandin G, Daunizau J, Hulme OJ, Billig AJ, Litvak V, Price CJ, Moran RJ, Lambert C. (2020)
Dynamic causal modelling of COVID-19.
Wellcome Open Res 2020, 5:89

Friston KJ, Parr T, Zeidman P, Razi A, Flandin G, Daunizau J, Hulme OJ, Billig AJ., Litvak V, Price CJ., Moran RJ., Costello A, Pillay D, Lambert C. (2020)
Testing and tracking in the UK: A dynamic causal modelling study
Wellcome Open Research 5 (144), 144

Hulme OJ, Morville T, Gutkin B. (2019)
Neurocomputational Theories of Homeostatic Control
Physics of Life Reviews, Jul 19. pii: S1571-0645(19)30100-9. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.07.005

Hulme OJ, Webb EJ, Sebald A. (2019)
An Introduction to Physiological Economics
Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Experimental Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Hulme OJ, Kvitsiani D. (2019)
Extending Models of How Foraging Works: Uncertainty, Controllability, and Survivability
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2019 Jan;42:e43. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X18002017

Hallsson BG, Siebner HR, Hulme OJ. (2018)
Fairness, fast and slow: A review of dual process models of fairness
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. Jun;89:49-60. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.02.016.

Christensen BJ, Schmidt JB, Nielsen MS, Tækkerd L, Holm L, Lunn S, Brediee WLP, Ritz C, Holst JJ, Hansen T, Hilbert A, le Roux CW, Hulme OJ, Siebner HR, Morville T, Naver L, Floyd, AK, Sjödin A. (2018)
Patient profiling for success after weight loss surgery: An interdisciplinary study protocol
Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. Feb 17;10:121-130. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2018.02.002.

Larsen KM, Mørup M, Birknow MR, Fischer E, Hulme OJ, Vangkilde A, Schmock H, Baaré WF, Didriksen M, Olsen L, Werge T, Siebner HR, Garrido MI. (2018)
Altered auditory processing and top-down connectivity in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome
Schizophrenia Research. Jan 30. pii: S0920-9964(18)30048-3. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2018.01.026.

Meder D, Kolling N, Verhagen L, Wittmann MK, Scholl J, Madsen KH, Hulme OJ, Behrens TEJ, Rushworth MFS. (2017)
Simultaneous representation of a spectrum of dynamically changing value estimates during decision making
Nature Communications. Dec 5;8(1):1942. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02169-w.

Friis-Olivarius M, Hulme OJ, Skov M, Ramsøy TZ, Siebner HR. (2017)
Imaging the Creative Unconscious: Reflexive Neural Responses to Objects in the Visual and Parahippocampal Region Predicts State and Trait Creativity
Scientific Reports. Oct 31;7(1):14420. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-14729-7.

Group Members

Oliver Hulme

Group Leader

Simon Steinkamp