Diffusion data is acquired with two b-values (b=1000 and 2000 s/mm2) at 2mm spatial resolution, with multiband acceleration factor of 3 (three slices are acquired simultaneously instead of just one). For each diffusion-weighted shell, 50 distinct diffusion-encoding directions were acquired (covering 100 distinct directions over the two b-values). The diffusion preparation is a standard (“monopolar”) Stejskal-Tanner pulse sequence. This enables higher SNR due to a shorter echo time (TE=92ms) than a twice-refocused (“bipolar”) sequence at the expense of stronger eddy current distortions, which are removed using the Eddy tool67 (which also corrects for static field distortion and motion68).
