Aberrant brain dynamics in neuroHIV: Evidence from magnetoencephalographic (MEG) imaging

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive, silent, and totally passive neurophysiological imaging method with excellent temporal resolution (~1ms) and good spatial precision (~3-5mm). While MEG studies of neuroHIV remain relatively rare, the number of studies per year has sharply increased recently and this trend will likely continue into the foreseeable future. The current in-depth review focuses on the studies that have been conducted to date, which include investigations of somatosensory and visual modalities, resting-state, as well as motor control and higher-level functions such as working memory and visual attention. The review begins with an introduction to the principles and methods of MEG, and then transitions to a review of each of the empirical studies that have been conducted to date, separated by sensory modality for the basic studies and cognitive domain for the higher-level investigations. As such, this review attempts to be exhaustive in its coverage of empirical MEG studies of neuroHIV. Across studies major themes emerge including aberrant neural oscillatory activity in HIV-infected adults, both in primary sensory regions of the brain and higher-order executive regions. Many studies have also connected the amplitude of neural oscillations to behavioral and/or neuropsychological function in the study population, making a vital connection to performance and improving the veracity of the findings. One conspicuous emerging area is the use of MEG to distinguish cognitively-impaired from unimpaired HIV-infected adults, with major success reported and future studies sure to come. The review concludes with a summary of findings and suggested focus areas for future studies.