Properties of MEG tomographic maps obtained with spatial filtering

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has, in comparison with other functional imaging modalities, unique properties which makes it the prime candidate for the noninvasive investigation of long-range oscillatory interactions in the human brain. Recent methodological developments based on spatial filtering introduced the computation of functional tomographic maps covering the entire brain and representing the distribution of coherence to a given reference signal or the distribution of power. Because of the spatially inhomogeneous sensitivity profile of the MEG sensors, the spatial resolution of the resulting functional maps is not isotropic across the brain. Here, we introduce a convenient analytic expression for the computation of the spatial resolution at any given point in the brain. We derive the dependence of the resolution on the signal-to-noise ratio and on the changes of the leadfields. The resolution map can be displayed on anatomical MRI in the same way as the functional maps. In addition, we establish a procedure for computing a confidence volume of local maxima which is based on a bootstrap method. The confidence volume is a measure for the uncertainty of the localization. It is important for assigning local maxima of activation to specific anatomical structures and may be used to test for differences in localization between different experimental conditions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.