Solving the Puzzle of Neuro-Imaging: From High Resolution EEG to Multimodal Interation with MEG and (function)MRI Techniques.

摘要

This thesis explores the ways by which a priori information regarding both geometrical and functional properties of the brain can improve the spatial details of the standard electroencephalographic (EEG) technique. Two levels of a priori information are demonstrated useful in increasing the spatial resolution of the EEG data. The first level regards the acquisition of the volume conductor properties of an individual subject, which concerns the shape and the sensors, such as the scalp, the skull, the dura mater and the cortical surface. The second level of a priori knowledge is the acquisition of information about the possible activation of the neural sources during the same task to be studied as available from other brain imaging modalities, such as the magnetoencephalography (MEG) and the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI). A proposal of new possible mathematical frameworks, in which the use of these different levels of information can be included, is one of the principal outcomes of the present thesis.