Models of brain sources

Two categories of models are available for the functional imaging of scalp recorded electric brain activity: single-time-point and spatio-temporal. Instantaneous models require strict assumptions that do not conform with the underlying physiology, because they rely on the few voltage differences measured at only one sampling point. Spatio-temporal models create a spatial image of discrete multiple sources and a temporal image of source current wave forms which reflect the time course of the local activity in circumscribed brain areas at a macroscopic level. The spatial image may be limited in accuracy because it depends both on model and data, but it can be validated by scanning the brain with regional dipole sources. In many cases of temporal lobe epilepsy, for example, interictal spikes can be described adequately by as few as two equivalent dipoles, which image the vertical source current arising from the medio-basal aspect of the temporal lobe and the horizontal source current from its lateral surface.