Implementation of a beam forming technique in real-time magnetoencephalography

Abstract

Real-time magnetoencephalography (rtMEG) is an emerging neurofeedback technology that could potentially benefit multiple areas of basic and clinical neuroscience. In the present study, we implemented voxel-based real-time coherence measurements in a rtMEG system in which we employed a beamformer to localize signal sources in the anatomical space prior to computing imaginary coherence. Our rtMEG experiment showed that a healthy subject could increase coherence between the parietal cortex and visual cortex when attending to a flickering visual stimulus. This finding suggests that our system is suitable for neurofeedback training and can be useful for practical brain-machine interface applications or neurofeedback rehabilitation.