Influence of white matter anisotropic conductivity on EEG source localization: comparison to fMRI in human primary visual cortex.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to experimentally investigate the influence of the anisotropy of white matter (WM) conductivity on EEG source localization.


METHODS
Visual evoked potentials (VEP) and fMRI data were recorded from three human subjects presented with identical visual stimuli. A finite element method was used to solve the EEG forward problems based on both anisotropic and isotropic head models, and single-dipole source localization was subsequently performed to localize the source underlying the N75 VEP component.


RESULTS
The averaged distances of the localized N75 dipole locations in V1 between the isotropic and anisotropic head models ranged from 0 to 6.22+/-2.83mm. The distances between the localized dipole positions and the centers of the fMRI V1 activations were slightly smaller when using an anisotropic model (7.49+/-1.35-15.70+/-8.60mm) than when using an isotropic model (7.65+/-1.30-15.31+/-9.18mm).


CONCLUSIONS
Anisotropic models incorporating realistic WM anisotropic conductivity distributions do not substantially improve the accuracy of EEG dipole localization in the primary visual cortex using experimental data obtained using visual stimulation.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study represents the first attempt using a human experimental approach to assess the effects of WM anisotropy on EEG source analysis.
Lee
Won Hee
WH
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 7-105 BSBE, 312 Church Street, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Liu
Zhongming
Z
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 7-105 BSBE, 312 Church Street, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Mueller
Bryon A
BA
Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Lim
Kelvin
K
Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
He
Bin
B
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 7-105 BSBE, 312 Church Street, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: binhe@umn.edu.
D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult