High-resolution fMRI can aid in determining to what extent the BOLD signal arises from capillaries or larger vessels. In high-resolution functional activation maps both positive and negative BOLD signals associated with vessels were observed; this was seen for both GE- and SE-BOLD. Because of its higher specificity, the SE-BOLD signal was used to investigate the origin of these vessel signals. The location of the SE-BOLD signal from veins changed when the direction of the gradients was changed. This is in contrast to the peak SE-BOLD occurring in layer IV which arises from capillaries, and was insensitive to gradient reversal.