Electroencephalography source localization

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been and is still widely used in brain function research. EEG has advantages over other neuroimaging modalities. First, it not only directly images the electrical activity of neurons; it has a higher temporal resolution. Furthermore, current advanced technologies enable accurate mathematical calculations and sophisticated localization from EEG data. Several important factors should be considered for EEG analysis using these advanced technologies. First, raw EEG data contain physiological or nonphysiological artifacts. Therefore, preprocessing methods and algorithms to detect and remove these artifacts have been proposed and developed. In the analysis of preprocessed EEG, forward and inverse problems require solving and several proposed models have been applied. To solve the forward problem, the source information and matrix parameters from which the EEG originates are essential. Therefore, an accurate head model is required. In contrast, the possible combinations of the current sources computed inversely from EEG measured at a limited number of electrodes are infinite, referring to the inverse problem. The inverse problem can be solved by setting limits based on assumptions made of the anatomy and physiology on the generation and propagation of the current sources. Thus, methods such as dipole source models and distributed source models have been proposed. Source localization requires the consideration of many factors such as the preprocessing of raw EEG data, artifact removal, accurate head models and forward problems, and inverse computation problems. This review summarizes the methods and considerations applied to the above EEG source localization process. It also introduces the applications of EEG source localization for epilepsy and other diseases as well as brain function studies and discusses future directions.