Abstract
Experimental designs are of utmost importance in neuroimaging. Experimental repertoire needs to be designed with the understanding of physiology, clinical feasibility, and constraints posed by a particular neuroimaging method. Innovations in introducing natural, ecologically-relevant stimuli, with successful collaboration across disciplines, correct timing, and a bit of luck may cultivate novel experiments, new discoveries, and open pathways to new clinical practices. Here I introduce some gizmos that I have initiated in magnetoencephalography (MEG) and applied with my collaborators in my home laboratory and in several other laboratories. These gizmos have been applied to address neuronal correlates of audiotactile interactions, tactile sense, active and passive movements, speech processing, and intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) in humans. This review also includes additional notes on the ideas behind the gizmos, their evolution, and results obtained.
Highlights
Life is multisensory in nature, it is worth investigating sensory modalities with dedicated stimulators separately with neuroimaging methods
We could see a systematic coherence between the accelerometer and MEG signals. This discovery heralded the use of a new method to locate and monitor the activity at the primary somatomotor cortices during active and passive movements, and we coined the approach as corticokinematic coherence (CKC) in which coherence is calculated between movement kinematics monitored with an accelerometer and MEG signals [42]
Intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) test is a vital part of clinical EEG with benefits whereas it is not mentioned in clinical MEG since commercial MEG-compatible intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) devices are not available
Summary
Life is multisensory in nature, it is worth investigating sensory modalities with dedicated stimulators separately with neuroimaging methods. Availability may be limited due to the estimated market size which is typically considered to be not large enough for introducing new stimulators taking into account regulatory processes needed for medical devices. One approach is to use an original idea in basic research, apply it with an in-house built and locally-approved stimulator
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