Magnetic Source Imaging of the Human Brain

This book is designed to acquaint serious students, scientists, and clinicians with magnetic source imaging (MSI)--a brain imaging technique of proven importance that promises even more important advances. The technique permits spatial resolution of neural events on a scale measured in millimeters and temporal resolution measured in milliseconds. Although widely mentioned in literature dealing with cognitive neuroscience and functional brain imaging, there is no single book describing both the foundations and actual methods of magnetoencephalopgraphy and its underlying science, neuromagnetism. This volume fills a long-standing need, as it is accessible to scientists and students having no special background in the field, and makes it possible for them to understand this literature and undertake their own research.

A self-contained unit, this book covers MSI from beginning to end, including its relationship to allied technologies, such as electroencephalography and modern functional imaging modalities. In addition, the book:

*introduces the field to the non-specialist, providing a framework for the rest of the book;

*provides a thorough review of the physiological basis of MSI;

*describes the mathematical bases of MSI--the forward and inverse problems;

*outlines new signal processing methods that extract information from single-trial MEG;

*depicts the early, as well as the most recent versions of MSI technology;

*compares MSI with other imaging methodologies;

*describes new paradigms and analysis techniques in applying MSI to study human perception and cognition, which are also applicable to EEG; and

*reviews some of the most important results in MSI from the most prominent researchers and laboratories around the world.