A diffusion-weighted MRI pulse sequence employs a two-dimensional diffusion weighting gradient that is sensitive to spin diffusion in a plane defined by two orthogonal gradients to acquire an image. The resulting magnitude image indicates the location of neuronal fibers perpendicular to this plane and by repeating the acquisition with the plane oriented at different angles, neuronal fibers extending through the field of view at any angle are detected. The magnitude images are used to produce a fiber tracking image.