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Updated: Apr 30, 2026
Concurrent EEG and Functional MRI Recording and Integration Analysis for Dynamic Cortical Activity Imaging
Published on: June 30, 2018
[Simultaneous EEG-fMRI measurements: insights in applications and challenges]
1Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Medizinische Fakultät, RWTH Aachen, Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Deutschland.
Background:
The following article presents an introduction to simultaneous electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) measurements which have undergone a huge development during the last few years.
Objectives:
The idea behind combining both non-invasive methods is to join the excellent temporal resolution of EEG (ms) together with the superior spatial resolution of fMRI (mm). In this article the status quo of the method and perspectives regarding multimodal imaging are discussed.
Material And Methods:
Simultaneous EEG-fMRI measurements are affected by scanner and cardioballistic artifacts. We present common artifact subtraction methods in order to achieve a feasible data quality and outline what to consider when planning and recording EEG and fMRI simultaneously. Moreover, we discuss different analysis strategies.
Results:
Combined EEG-fMRI measurements have already increased our knowledge about the underlying relationships between the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) response and the EEG signal and are applied to answer widespread research questions. Simultaneous measurements are an essential part of multimodal imaging in investigating the underlying processing mechanisms of the brain as well as in advancing our understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases.
Conclusions:
Current developments in multimodal imaging focus on the combination of electrophysiological and MRI parameters within ultra-high field MRI as well as on positron emission tomography (PET) in a trimodal approach.
