The purpose of the study reported here was to document the ability of magnetic resonance imaging to depict the imaging characteristics of normal structures within the central nervous system of adult rhesus monkeys. The head and the cervical and thoracic parts of the spinal cord of two rhesus monkeys were imaged in a clinical 1.5-T whole-body imager. Specific images were selected, and some notable structures were identified. Results of this study document the usefulness of MRI as an expeditious, noninvasive research and diagnostic imaging technique and illustrates the normal magnetic resonance signal patterns of the brain and spinal cord in rhesus monkeys.