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Source Connectivity Analysis from MEG and its Application to Epilepsy Source Localization

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Abstract

We report an approach to perform source connectivity analysis from MEG, and initially evaluate this approach to interictal MEG to localize epileptogenic foci and analyze interictal discharge propagations in patients with medically intractable epilepsy. Cortical activities were reconstructed from MEG using individual realistic geometry boundary element method head models. Directional connectivity among cortical regions of interest was then estimated using directed transfer function. The MEG source connectivity analysis method was implemented in the eConnectome software, which is open-source and freely available at http://econnectome.umn.edu. As an initial evaluation, the method was applied to study MEG interictal spikes from five epilepsy patients. Estimated primary epileptiform sources were consistent with surgically resected regions, suggesting the feasibility of using cortical source connectivity analysis from interictal MEG for potential localization of epileptiform activities.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by NIH/NIBIB under grants RO1EB006433 and RO1EB007920 to Bin He.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 7-105 NHH, 312 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Yakang Dai & Bin He

  2. Minnesota Epilepsy Group, John Nasseff Neuroscience Center at United Hospital, Saint Paul, USA

    Wenbo Zhang & Deanna L. Dickens

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  1. Yakang Dai
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  2. Wenbo Zhang
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  3. Deanna L. Dickens
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  4. Bin He
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Correspondence to Bin He.

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Dai, Y., Zhang, W., Dickens, D.L. et al. Source Connectivity Analysis from MEG and its Application to Epilepsy Source Localization. Brain Topogr 25, 157–166 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-011-0211-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-011-0211-0

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