EEG-fMRI Bayesian framework for neural activity estimation: a simulation study.

Objective: Due to the complementary nature of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and given the possibility of simultaneous acquisition, the joint data analysis can afford a better understanding of the underlying neural activity estimation. In this simulation study we want to show the benefit of the joint EEG-fMRI neural activity estimation in a Bayesian framework.

Approach: We built a dynamic Bayesian framework in order to perform joint EEG-fMRI neural activity time course estimation. The neural activity is originated by a given brain area and detected by means of both measurement techniques. We have chosen a resting state neural activity situation to address the worst case in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio. To infer information by EEG and fMRI concurrently we used a tool belonging to the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods: the particle filter (PF).

Main Results: First, despite a high computational cost, we showed the feasibility of such an approach. Second, we obtained an improvement in neural activity reconstruction when using both EEG and fMRI measurements.

Significance: The proposed simulation shows the improvements in neural activity reconstruction with EEG-fMRI simultaneous data. The application of such an approach to real data allows a better comprehension of the neural dynamics.