The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Eur J Neurosci. 2021 Dec;54(12):8396-8405. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15019. Epub 2021 Feb 21.
During mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) experiments, electroencephalography and motion capture systems are used in concert to record high temporal resolution neural activity and movement kinematics while participants perform demanding perceptual and cognitive tasks in a naturalistic environment. A typical MoBI setup involves positioning multi-channel electrode caps based on anatomical fiducials as well as experimenter and participant intuition regarding the scalp midpoint location (i.e., Cz). Researchers often use the "template" electrode locations provided by the manufacturer, however, the "actual" electrode locations can vary based on each participant's head morphology. Accounting for differences in head morphologies could provide more accurate clinical diagnostic information when using MoBI to identify neurological deficits in patients with motor, sensory, or cognitive impairments. Here, we asked whether the existing motion capture system used in a MoBI setup could be easily adapted to improve spatial localization of electrodes across participants without requiring additional or specialized equipment that might impede clinical adoption. Using standard electrode configurations, infrared markers were placed on a subset of electrodes and anatomical fiducials, and the remaining electrode locations were estimated using spherical or ellipsoid models. We identified differences in event-related potentials between "template" and "actual" electrode locations during a Go/No-Go task (p < 9.8e-5) and an object-manipulation task (p < 9.8e-5). Thus, the motion capture system already used in MoBI experiments can be effectively deployed to accurately register and quantify the neural activity. Improving the spatial localization without needing specialized hardware or additional setup time to the workflow has important real-world implications for translating MoBI to clinical environments.
在移动脑/体成像 (MoBI) 实验中，脑电图和运动捕捉系统协同使用，以在参与者在自然环境中执行具有挑战性的感知和认知任务时记录高时间分辨率的神经活动和运动运动学。典型的 MoBI 设置涉及根据解剖学基准以及实验者和参与者关于头皮中点位置 (即 Cz) 的直觉定位多通道电极帽。研究人员通常使用制造商提供的“模板”电极位置，但“实际”电极位置可能因每个参与者的头部形态而异。在使用 MoBI 识别运动、感觉或认知障碍患者的神经缺陷时，考虑头部形态的差异可以提供更准确的临床诊断信息。在这里，我们询问现有的 MoBI 设置中使用的运动捕捉系统是否可以轻松适应，以提高参与者之间电极的空间定位，而无需使用可能阻碍临床采用的额外或专用设备。使用标准电极配置，将红外标记放置在一部分电极和解剖学基准上，并用球形或椭圆体模型估计其余电极位置。我们在 Go/No-Go 任务 (p < 9.8e-5) 和物体操纵任务 (p < 9.8e-5) 期间识别出“模板”和“实际”电极位置之间的事件相关电位差异。因此，已经在 MoBI 实验中使用的运动捕捉系统可以有效地部署以准确注册和量化神经活动。无需专门的硬件或为工作流程增加额外的设置时间即可提高空间定位，这对将 MoBI 转化为临床环境具有重要的实际意义。
