Electricity and magnetism: Insights into the brain from multimodal imaging

The windows into brain function given us by the instruments of neuroimaging each are murky and their view is limited. Simultaneous collection of data from multiple modalities offers the potential to overcome the weaknesses of any tool alone. We argue that the combination of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers observations and hypothesis testing not possible using either single instrument. Because of their safety profiles and their non-invasive natures, EEG fMRI are among the best available devices for the study of human brain. These methods are complementary. EEG is fast, operating in a time domain comparable to single unit activity, but its localizing power is poor and the field of view is limited. While fMRI has the highest spatial resolution of any noninvasive imaging method and can reveal multiple centers of brain activity implicated in cognitive tasks, it is very slow compared to mental activity and is a poor choice for studying rapidly evolving processes. Here, we address theoretical models of the coupling between EEG and fMRI signals based on cellular physiology and energetics and argue that both tools observe principally synaptic activity. We discuss the technical problems of mutual interference then present several models of brain rhythms for which the joint EEG and fMRI observations provide significant evidence.