Multimodal imaging of human brain activity: rational, biophysical aspects and modes of integration

Until relatively recently the vast majority of imaging and electrophysiological studies of human brain activity have relied on single-modality measurements usually correlated with readily observable or experimentally modified behavioural or brain state patterns. Multi-modal imaging is the concept of bringing together observations or measurements from different instruments. We discuss the aims of multi-modal imaging and the ways in which it can be accomplished using representative applications. Given the importance of haemodynamic and electrophysiological signals in current multi-modal imaging applications, we also review some of the basic physiology relevant to understanding their relationship

Tensor Analysis and Fusion of Multimodal Brain Images

Current high-throughput data acquisition technologies probe dynamical systems with different imaging modalities, generating massive data sets at different spatial and temporal resolutions posing challenging problems in multimodal data fusion. A case in point is the attempt to parse out the brain structures and networks that underpin human cognitive processes by analysis of different neuroimaging modalities (functional MRI, EEG, NIRS etc.). We emphasize that the multimodal, multi-scale nature of neuroimaging data is well reflected by a multi-way (tensor) structure where the underlying processes can be summarized by a relatively small number of components or "atoms". We introduce Markov-Penrose diagrams - an integration of Bayesian DAG and tensor network notation in order to analyze these models. These diagrams not only clarify matrix and tensor EEG and fMRI time/frequency analysis and inverse problems, but also help understand multimodal fusion via Multiway Partial Least Squares and Coupled Matrix-Tensor Factorization. We show here, for the first time, that Granger causal analysis of brain networks is a tensor regression problem, thus allowing the atomic decomposition of brain networks. Analysis of EEG and fMRI recordings shows the potential of the methods and suggests their use in other scientific domains.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Proceedings of the IEE

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Imaging Neural Activity in the Human Brain: The Annual Progress

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is recently developed and applied to measure the hemodynamic response related to neural activity. The fMRI can not only noninvasively record brain signals without risks of ionising radiation inherent in other scanning methods, such as CT or PET scans, but also record signal from all regions of the brain, unlike EEG/MEG which are biased towards the cortical surface. This paper introduces the fundamental principles and summarizes the research progress of the last year for imaging neural activity in the human brain. Aims of functional analysis of neural activity from fMRI include biological findings, functional connectivity, vision and hearing research, emotional research, neurosurgical planning, pain management, and many others. Besides formulations and basic processing methods, models and strategies of processing technology are introduced, including general linear model, nonlinear model, generative model, spatial pattern analysis, statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and multimodal combination. This paper provides readers the most recent representative contributions in the area

Integrating EEG and MEG signals to improve motor imagery classification in brain-computer interfaces

We propose a fusion approach that combines features from simultaneously recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals to improve classification performances in motor imagery-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). We applied our approach to a group of 15 healthy subjects and found a significant classification performance enhancement as compared to standard single-modality approaches in the alpha and beta bands. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the advantage of considering multimodal approaches as complementary tools for improving the impact of non-invasive BCIs

A Novel Synergistic Model Fusing Electroencephalography and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Modeling Brain Activities

Study of the human brain is an important and very active area of research. Unraveling the way the human brain works would allow us to better understand, predict and prevent brain related diseases that affect a significant part of the population. Studying the brain response to certain input stimuli can help us determine the involved brain areas and understand the mechanisms that characterize behavioral and psychological traits. In this research work two methods used for the monitoring of brain activities, Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI) have been studied for their fusion, in an attempt to bridge together the advantages of each one. In particular, this work has focused in the analysis of a specific type of EEG and fMRI recordings that are related to certain events and capture the brain response under specific experimental conditions. Using spatial features of the EEG we can describe the temporal evolution of the electrical field recorded in the scalp of the head. This work introduces the use of Hidden Markov Models (HMM) for modeling the EEG dynamics. This novel approach is applied for the discrimination of normal and progressive Mild Cognitive Impairment patients with significant results. EEG alone is not able to provide the spatial localization needed to uncover and understand the neural mechanisms and processes of the human brain. Functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) provides the means of localizing functional activity, without though, providing the timing details of these activations. Although, at first glance it is apparent that the strengths of these two modalities, EEG and fMRI, complement each other, the fusion of information provided from each one is a challenging task. A novel methodology for fusing EEG spatiotemporal features and fMRI features, based on Canonical Partial Least Squares (CPLS) is presented in this work. A HMM modeling approach is used in order to derive a novel feature-based representation of the EEG signal that characterizes the topographic information of the EEG. We use the HMM model in order to project the EEG data in the Fisher score space and use the Fisher score to describe the dynamics of the EEG topography sequence. The correspondence between this new feature and the fMRI is studied using CPLS. This methodology is applied for extracting features for the classification of a visual task. The results indicate that the proposed methodology is able to capture task related activations that can be used for the classification of mental tasks. Extensions on the proposed models are examined along with future research directions and applications

Multimodal Functional Network Connectivity: An EEG-fMRI Fusion in Network Space

EEG and fMRI recordings measure the functional activity of multiple coherent networks distributed in the cerebral cortex. Identifying network interaction from the complementary neuroelectric and hemodynamic signals may help to explain the complex relationships between different brain regions. In this paper, multimodal functional network connectivity (mFNC) is proposed for the fusion of EEG and fMRI in network space. First, functional networks (FNs) are extracted using spatial independent component analysis (ICA) in each modality separately. Then the interactions among FNs in each modality are explored by Granger causality analysis (GCA). Finally, fMRI FNs are matched to EEG FNs in the spatial domain using network-based source imaging (NESOI). Investigations of both synthetic and real data demonstrate that mFNC has the potential to reveal the underlying neural networks of each modality separately and in their combination. With mFNC, comprehensive relationships among FNs might be unveiled for the deep exploration of neural activities and metabolic responses in a specific task or neurological state