A P P E N D I X
F
Brain Imaging Techniques:
Invasiveness and Spatial and
Temporal Resolution
Alberto Zani, Gabriele Biella, and Alice Mado Proverbio
INTRODUCTION
In this appendix we provide some esti-
mates of the spatial and temporal resolu-
tion, as well as of the invasiveness, of the
most frequently used neuroimaging tech-
niques. Before illustrating these estimates,
it is important to remember that neuro-
imaging techniques may be subdivided
into two broad categories according to
their different aims: imaging of brain
anatomy (structural imaging), or of brain
function (functional imaging). Structural
imaging is used to examine the static out-
lines of brain structures in both physiologi-
cal and pathological situations. Functional
imaging, on the other hand, is used to gain
knowledge on (1) which structures are
activated during a specific cognitive task,
at sensory and/or cognitive levels, (2) the
interactions between the structures that are
activated, and (3) the way the functional
activation of the brain is reorganized in
individuals affected by neurological dis-
eases, strokes, or head injuries.
Generally speaking, the structural cate-
gory of neuroimaging techniques includes
two well-known neuroradiological tech-
niques: computerized axial tomography
(CAT) and magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI). As far as brain imaging capacity is
The Cognitive Electrophysiology of Mind and Brain
concerned, both are far superior to their
forebear, the X-ray technique.
Functional imaging includes a wide
range of techniques, which are listed here
in increasing order of spatial and temporal
resolution: (1) 2-deoxyglucose cerebral
blood flow (2-deoxyglucose CBF), a fore-
runner of hemodynamic techniques rarely
used nowadays; (2) single-photon emission
computed tomography (SPECT); (3)
positron emission tomography (PET); (4)
functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI); (4) electroencephalography and
event-related potentials (EEG–ERP); (5)
magnetoencephalography (MEG); and last,
but not the least, (6) microelectrode single-
unit recording, which involves recording
electrophysiological signals from inside or
outside the membrane of a single neuron
body by means of microelectrodes.
Although the categorization of neuro-
imaging techniques into the two aforemen-
tioned approaches is generally sound, it
should be mentioned that all these tech-
niques have some limitations and attempts
are being made to overcome these. Some
very recently devised techniques combine
both structural and functional imaging
information and cannot be classified into
either category. A rather interesting
example of these combined techniques is
the so-called CAT–PET.
417 Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
418 F. IMAGING TECHNIQUES

techniques mentioned above. The spatial

SPATIAL AND
TEMPORAL RESOLUTION
The accuracy with which the imaging
techniques are able to provide definite
images of the anatomy of the centers of the
central nervous system (CNS), and/or the
activation of these centers, in order to be
able to localize them reliably, is defined as
spatial resolution. Conversely, the speed
with which the techniques can keep on
scanning the CNS anatomy and physiol-
ogy, taking into account all intrinsic limita-
tions, i.e., the minimum time that must
necessarily pass between the collection of a
measure of one CNS activation and the
successive one, is described as temporal
resolution.
Figure 1 is a graphical representation of
an estimate of the normal spatial and tem-
poral resolution for each of the imaging
resolution, expressed in millimeters, is
reported on the ordinate axis; the temporal
resolution––here indicated in seconds on a
logarithmic scale—is depicted on the
abscissa. The height and width of the
forms with which the different techniques
are represented in the figure indicate the
known range of spatial and temporal reso-
lutions, respectively, for each of the tech-
niques. The increasing saturation of the
gray hue of the different shapes represents
the increasing degree of invasiveness of the
techniques.
Structural techniques currently have the
most accurate spatial resolution or, in other
words, localization capacity. Both CAT and
PET techniques have a spatial resolution
that is vastly superior to that of previous
techniques. Indeed, their spatial resolution
has become so good that it is now in the
order of millimeters.

FIGURE 1 Invasiveness, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution of the main imaging techniques used in
humans to investigate function and structure of the brain. The different sizes of the shapes representing the dif-
ferent techniques vary as a function of the level of both spatial resolution (in milimeters) and temporal resolution
(in seconds). Note that the increasing level of saturation of the gray color represents the increasing levels of inva-
siveness of the techniques.

APPENDIXES
 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION
In PET, for example, the activated parts of
the brain selectively take up a radioactive
tracer previously administered intraven-
ously to a patient or healthy volunteer. The
gamma rays deriving from the emission of
positrons by these activated structures allow
a functional map of cerebral activation to be
built; as illustrated in Fig. 1, such a map has
a precision ranging between about 2 and 5
mm. fMRI, on the other hand, can reflect
structural variations caused by increased
local blood flow and dilatation of cerebral
tissues with a mean precision of 3 mm,
although the range is from 2 to 4 mm.
Notwithstanding their high spatial reso-
lution, none of the functional imaging
techniques, with the exception of MEG, can
provide functional images that are also
accurate in temporal terms. In fact, the
temporal resolution with which they can
provide accurate images of ongoing func-
tional activation of the brain is rather poor.
This resolution can reach the order of a
tenth of second (~100–150 msec) with the
most technologically advanced type of
fMRI––that is, 3 or 4 tesla echo-planar
fMRI (or event-related fMRI)—but still
remains in the order of seconds with less
powerful equipment. The temporal resolu-
tion of PET is tens of seconds or even
minutes. The significance of this technical
limitation to research can readily be
appreciated by considering that an action
potential originating in the pyramidal
motor neurones of the premotor cortex
propagating along the efferent pathways
takes about 150 msec to reach the muscle
bundles of the forearm, causing flexion of
the terminal phalanx of the index finger, in
order, for example, to press a button for
measuring reaction times. Or consider that
we can identify an object that enters our
visual field within a few hundreds of milli-
seconds (~180–220 msec). It is clear that the
velocity with which the above-mentioned
neural processes occur means that their
subprocesses escape measurement tech-
niques because of the interval between suc-
cessive sampling.
APPENDIXES
419
Given that the final aim of research on
the mind and brain should be to construct
a model of functional relations between
the pathways and centers of the brain from
which mental life comes, besides simple
localization of these to particular areas
of the brain, it is important to have a
temporal resolution of milliseconds for the
processes involved. The only imaging
techniques that have such a good temporal
resolution are the techniques used sys-
tematically or on single cells that measure
the electromagnetic activity of the brain
directly. As illustrated by Fig. 1, the maxi-
mal temporal resolution, as well as spatial
resolution, is provided by single-unit
recordings. Thanks to these it is possible to
carry out neurofunctional investigations
with a temporal resolution below the order
of milliseconds (<10–3), and with a spatial
resolution under 1 mm. It is, however,
unthinkable to use this technique for func-
tional imaging of the human brain because
of its invasiveness; it would require neuro-
surgery to implant the microelectrodes.
Unlike single-unit recordings, scalp
recordings of voltages (EEGs and ERPs)
that mirror the intracranial currents origi-
nating from neuronal sources in the brain
cortex, and spreading by volume conduc-
tion throughout the brain and the scalp,
can be used as tools for human research.
Indeed, while having the advantage of
1-msec temporal resolution, or quite close
to this level, the recording method is com-
pletely noninvasive. However, because of
its irregularities, the skull is not a homoge-
neous conductor. The volume currents that
come in contact with the electrodes over
the scalp are distorted by irregularities
such that the technique does not have
sufficient spatial resolution to be able
locate the real intracranial sources of the
currents.
This difficulty translates into a spatial
resolution that cannot be relied on for
localization purposes. In the best cases,
localization of the electric dipole ranges
between a minimum of 6 mm and a maxi-
420 F. IMAGING TECHNIQUES
mum of 11 mm or even beyond, depending
on a whole series of recording conditions
and modeling parameters (see Fig. 1). Even
then, there are some extreme cases, such as
the so-called far-field potentials, in which the
scalp site at which the largest signal is
measured is actually far away from the
source area; for example, sensory-evoked
responses of the auditory cortex to uni-
lateral stimuli, despite originating on the
dorsolateral side of the contralateral brain
hemisphere close to the ear, produce their
largest amplitudes at the top of the scalp.
Although having the same temporal res-
olution as the EEG, magnetoencephal-
ography is only minimally influenced by
the nonuniform conductivity of the brain,
skull, and scalp, and if the head is modeled
using spherical geometry the recorded
magnetic field can be considered com-
pletely independent of the conductivity of
the head. Referring once again to Fig. 1 it
can be seen that only MEG has high levels
of both spatial and temporal resolution. In
detail, the spatial resolution of this tech-
nique ranges from a minimum of 1.5 mm
to a maximum of 4 mm for the cortical
areas of the brain. Unfortunately, this reso-
lution decreases dramatically to some cen-
timeters for subcortical regions. This
technique could, therefore, be the tech-
nique of choice for localizing activity in the
superficial areas of the brain, i.e., the cere-
bral cortex, which is responsible for mental
processes in general. Unfortunately, this
technique is still too expensive to become
as widely used as the ERPs.
In order to overcome the various limita-
tions of each of the techniques presented
here, strategies are being developed to use
combined methods; for example, the images
obtained by MRI, fMRI, or PET can be com-
bined with those from microelectrodes, or
those from MEG and ERPs. Combination
methods can be based on a direct or an
indirect approach. The former uses hemo-
dynamic images to obtain a real structural
basis of the estimates of functional activa-
tion acquired separately, whereas the latter
APPENDIXES
involves parallel recording of these para-
meters in a single experimental paradigm.
Although it is certainly true that the differ-
ent approaches are very useful individually,
only integration of the techniques with dif-
ferent spatial and temporal resolutions can
provide truly valuable information on the
neurofunctional mechanisms of mental
processes, and on their temporal course of
activation.
INVASIVENESS
Techniques to investigate the function
and structure of the nervous system can be
classified as invasive, semiinvasive, and
noninvasive. The difference between the
invasive and semiinvasive techniques is
that the former implies a surgical lesion
(mechanical) and the latter involves a
physicochemical stress (with radioopaque
or radioactive substances).
Techiques that can be defined as nonin-
vasive are MEG and EEG, both of which
involve simple recordings of electrical
potentials or natural magnetic fields pro-
duced by brain activity without experi-
mentally introduced chemicostructural
perturbations of the cerebral regions.
Semiinvasive techniques provide a
means to observe dynamic and structural
properties through images that are recon-
structed on the basis of a principle of both
active and passive detectability. In the first
case, the products of rapidly metabolized
compounds or radioactive substances with
a short half-life are detected. The com-
pounds are injected intravenously and,
being distributed preferentially to certain
regions of the brain, show in the various
areas of the brain a differential distribution
that is proportional to the state of activa-
tion of the area (PET, SPECT, and, when
tracers are used, also fMRI and MRI). In
the case of passive detection (e.g., CAT),
the X radiations are delivered by the
machine and hit the cerebral tissues
ab externo (with the usual radiographic
 SUGGESTED READING
principle). Even MRI and fMRI, without
injection of markers, induce changes in
cerebral or spinal structures. In fact, apply-
ing a magnetic field causes a change, albeit
transitory, in the characteristics of the
spatiotemporal molecular organization,
with realignment of the electromagnetic
dipoles of charged molecules.
Mechanically invasive techniques belong
to the realm of functional neurosurgery;
this involves extra- or intradural record-
ings, or even recordings from deep struc-
tures (in the case of therapeutic placement
of stimulatory electrodes). These techniques
obviously involve surgery on specific nerv-
ous tissue and perforation or opening of the
skull.
Mechanical or physicochemical invasive-
ness implies a different degree of danger
for the patient. Naturally this creates a
boundary; the economic costs and benefits
of the results of the diagnostic or surgical
intervention must be compared to not car-
rying out the procedure. On average, given
precise conditions and the noninstrumental
diagnosis, the indication for an invasive
intervention is highly controlled and
justifiable.
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