Human brain imaging with high‐density electroencephalography: Techniques and applications

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a technique for non-invasively measuring neuronal activity in the human brain using electrodes placed on the participant's scalp. With the advancement of digital technologies, EEG analysis has evolved from the qualitative analysis of amplitude and frequency modulations over time to a comprehensive analysis of the complex spatiotemporal characteristics of the recorded signals. EEG is now considered a powerful tool for measuring neural processes in the same time frame in which they happen, i.e., the sub-second range. However, it is commonly argued that EEG suffers from low spatial resolution, which makes it difficult to localise the generators of EEG activity accurately and reliably. Today, the availability of high-density EEG (hdEEG) systems, combined with methods for incorporating information on head anatomy and sophisticated source-localisation algorithms, has transformed EEG into an important neuroimaging tool.

Despite the increasing spread of hdEEG systems, the neuroscientific community may not be fully aware of these recent developments, due to the still prevalent notion that neural sources cannot be reliably estimated from EEG signals. To address this issue, Marco Marino (Principal Investigator STARS@UNIPD at DPG) and Dante Mantini (Full Professor at KU Leuven) wrote a technical review, published on The Journal of Physiology,on human brain imaging using hdEEG, covering both methods and applications.

Indeed, hdEEG offers researchers and clinicians a rich and varied range of applications. It can be used not only for investigating neural correlates in motor and cognitive neuroscience experiments but also for clinical diagnosis, particularly in the detection of epilepsy and the characterization of neural impairments in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Notably, the integration of hdEEG systems with other physiological recordings, such as kinematic and/or electromyography data, might be especially beneficial to better understand the neuromuscular mechanisms associated with deconditioning in aging and neuromotor disorders, by mapping the neurokinematic and neuromuscular connectivity patterns directly in the brain.

The review is freely accessible at the following link:

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP286639

Marino, Marco, and Dante Mantini. "Human brain imaging with high‐density electroencephalography: Techniques and applications." The Journal of Physiology (2024).