Scientific article
Review
English

Towards the utilization of EEG as a brain imaging tool

Published inNeuroImage, vol. 61, no. 2, p. 371-385
Publication date2012
Abstract

Recent advances in signal analysis have engendered EEG with the status of a true brain mapping and brain imaging method capable of providing spatio-temporal information regarding brain (dys)function. Because of the increasing interest in the temporal dynamics of brain networks, and because of the straightforward compatibility of the EEG with other brain imaging techniques, EEG is increasingly used in the neuroimaging community. However, the full capability of EEG is highly underestimated. Many combined EEG-fMRI studies use the EEG only as a spike-counter or an oscilloscope. Many cognitive and clinical EEG studies use the EEG still in its traditional way and analyze grapho-elements at certain electrodes and latencies. We here show that this way of using the EEG is not only dangerous because it leads to misinterpretations, but it is also largely ignoring the spatial aspects of the signals. In fact, EEG primarily measures the electric potential field at the scalp surface in the same way as MEG measures the magnetic field. By properly sampling and correctly analyzing this electric field, EEG can provide reliable information about the neuronal activity in the brain and the temporal dynamics of this activity in the millisecond range. This review explains some of these analysis methods and illustrates their potential in clinical and experimental applications.

Keywords
  • Brain/anatomy & histology
  • Brain Mapping/instrumentation/methods
  • Electroencephalography/methods/trends
  • Epilepsy/diagnosis/pathology
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders/diagnosis/pathology
  • Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis/pathology
  • Neural Pathways/anatomy & histology/physiology
  • Neuroimaging/methods/trends
Funding
  • Swiss National Science Foundation - 132952
Citation (ISO format)
MICHEL, Christoph, MURRAY, Micah M. Towards the utilization of EEG as a brain imaging tool. In: NeuroImage, 2012, vol. 61, n° 2, p. 371–385. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.039
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN1053-8119
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Technical informations

Creation10/10/2012 5:00:00 PM
First validation10/10/2012 5:00:00 PM
Update time03/14/2023 7:55:37 PM
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