Visualizing simulated electrical fields from electroencephalography and transcranial electric brain stimulation: a comparative evaluation.


Author: Eichelbaum S1, Dannhauer M2, Hlawitschka M3, Brooks D4, Knösche TR5, Scheuermann G6.

Affiliation: 1Image and Signal Processing Group, Leipzig University, Augustusplatz 10-11, 04109 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: eichelbaum@informatik.uni-leipzig.de. 2Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, 72S. Central Campus Drive, 84112 Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Center for Integrative Biomedical Computing, University of Utah, 72S. Central Campus Drive, 84112, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Electronic address: moritz@sci.utah.edu. 3Scientific Visualization, Leipzig University, Augustusplatz 10-11, 04109 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: hlawitschka@informatik.uni-leipzig.de. 4Center for Integrative Biomedical Computing, University of Utah, 72S. Central Campus Drive, 84112, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: brooks@ece.neu.edu. 5Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Institute, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: knoesche@cbs.mpg.de. 6Image and Signal Processing Group, Leipzig University, Augustusplatz 10-11, 04109 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: scheuermann@informatik.uni-leipzig.de.
Conference/Journal: Neuroimage. 
Date published: 2014 Nov 1
Other:
 Volume ID: 101   ,  Pages: 513-30   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.04.085   ,  Word Count: 274  
    

Electrical activity of neuronal populations is a crucial aspect of brain activity. This activity is not measured directly but recorded as electrical potential changes using head surface electrodes (electroencephalogram - EEG). Head surface electrodes can also be deployed to inject electrical currents in order to modulate brain activity (transcranial electric stimulation techniques) for therapeutic and neuroscientific purposes. In electroencephalography and noninvasive electric brain stimulation, electrical fields mediate between electrical signal sources and regions of interest (ROI). These fields can be very complicated in structure, and are influenced in a complex way by the conductivity profile of the human head. Visualization techniques play a central role to grasp the nature of those fields because such techniques allow for an effective conveyance of complex data and enable quick qualitative and quantitative assessments. The examination of volume conduction effects of particular head model parameterizations (e.g., skull thickness and layering), of brain anomalies (e.g., holes in the skull, tumors), location and extent of active brain areas (e.g., high concentrations of current densities) and around current injecting electrodes can be investigated using visualization. Here, we evaluate a number of widely used visualization techniques, based on either the potential distribution or on the current-flow. In particular, we focus on the extractability of quantitative and qualitative information from the obtained images, their effective integration of anatomical context information, and their interaction. We present illustrative examples from clinically and neuroscientifically relevant cases and discuss the pros and cons of the various visualization techniques.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Bioelectric Field; EEG; Human Brain; Visualization; tDCS

PMID: 24821532 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC4172355 [Available on 2015-11-01]