The technique is highly effective

Jan 23, 2010 10:49 GMT  ·  By
CT reconstruction of the skull, with fMRI of the brain. EEG signals in color.
   CT reconstruction of the skull, with fMRI of the brain. EEG signals in color.

Producing more and more accurate data on the human brain is the goal of all imaging methods used in hospitals today. Scanning the electrical activity of the cortex, or determining firing patterns within various areas of the brain are objectives that require complex medical procedures. In spite of recent advancements, some of these imaging methods still need further augmentation, so that healthcare experts can take that best informed decisions, Mind Hacks reports.

One of the possible innovations that could boost brain scan readings draws its inspiration from a procedure known as a hemicraniectomy. This is widely used by surgeons in the case of people who have suffered a traumatic injury to the head, including gunshots and stab wounds. What they do is they cut a small piece of the skull out, a patch about the size of an orange, or a grapefruit. With the hard tissue out of the way, the brain has room to swell as it heals. After four to six months, when the brain is out of harm's way, the removed piece of bone is reattached, and the skull reverted to its former shape.

University of California in Berkeley (UCB) neuroscientist Bradley Voytek, the leader of a research team, realized at some point that working with patients that had been subjected to hemicraniectomy could help improve electroencephalography (EEG) readings. This imaging technique records the electrical activity of the human brain, and can provide researchers with data on a number of conditions, including epilepsy, tumors and strokes. However, the method is tainted by the fact that the signals emanating from nerve cells are muffled by signals passing through the skull bone.

Seizing the opportunity, Voytek and his team began conducting EEG measurements on patients who had had parts of their skulls removed. The group learned that the data collected from these people was a lot more focused, a lot clearer, less muffled, and generally of a higher quality and relevance than the information gathered from people with an intact skull structure. This line of investigations could in the near future aid neuroscientists better understand the readings they obtain via normal EEG. This could reduce the incidence of false readings, and make the imaging method more reliable. Details of the work appear in the latest issue of the respected Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.