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Comparison of Brain Imaging Tests

fMRI

What does it measure:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a technique for measuring brain activity. It works by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity – when a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen and to meet this increased demand blood flow increases to the active area. fMRI can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

PROS

1. It is non-invasive and doesn’t involve radiation, making it safe for the subject.

2. It has excellent spatial and good temporal resolution.

3. It is easy for the experimenter to use.

CONS

Measures the secondary effect instead of measuring the neural electric activity

COST

2014:according to recently released Medicare pricing data analyzed by NerdWallet Health, the average cost of an MRI in the U.S. is $2,611

CT Scan

What does it measure:

Computed tomography (CT) scanning builds up a picture of the brain based on the differential absorption of X-rays. During a CT scan the subject lies on a table that slides in and out of a hollow, cylindrical apparatus. An x-ray source rides on a ring around the inside of the tube, with its beam aimed at the subjects head. After passing through the head, the beam is sampled by one of the many detectors that line the machine’s circumference. Images made using x-rays depend on the absorption of the beam by the tissue it passes through.

PROS

1. Helps detect diseases

2. good accuracy

CONS

Bone and hard tissue absorb x-rays well, air and water absorb very little and soft tissue is somewhere in between. Thus, CT scans reveal the gross features of the brain but do not resolve its structure well.

COST

2015: Unfortunately, there isn’t a standard price for CT scans. The price depends on where you live, the negotiating power of the provider who administers the scan and your insurance provider. According to New Choice Health, the national average cost of a brain CT scan is $1,200.

PET

What does it measure:

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) uses trace amounts of short-lived radioactive material to map functional processes in the brain. When the material undergoes radioactive decay a positron is emitted, which can be picked up be the detector. Areas of high radioactivity are associated with brain activity.

PROS

CONS

1. Procedure is invasive

2. measures the secondary effect instead of measuring the neural activity.

COST

2016: the cost of a PET scan in Pennsylvania ranges from $1,771 to $2,086.

EEG

What does it measure:

Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain by recording from electrodes placed on the scalp. The resulting traces are known as an electroencephalogram (EEG) and represent an electrical signal from a large number of neurons.EEGs are frequently used in experimentation because the process is non-invasive to the research subject

PROS

1. EEGs are frequently used in experimentation because the process is non-invasive to the research subject

2. The EEG is capable of detecting changes in electrical activity in the brain on a millisecond-level.

3. It is one of the few techniques available that has such high temporal resolution. 4. produces high temporal resolution in order of milliseconds.

4. capable of measuring fast changes of neuro-physiologic process.

5. EEG data for cognitive tasks indicate much more plausible results to achieve spatiotemporal mapping of event related responses in the human brain.

CONS

EEG provides poor spatial resolution, meaning images displaying the data are not three dimensional.

COST

2018: $785

Sources:

R. F. Ahmad, A. S. Malik, N. Kamel and F. Reza, “EEG-fMRI combination for better understanding of brain functions: Pros and cons,” 2015 IEEE International Conference on Signal and Image Processing Applications (ICSIPA), Kuala Lumpur, 2015, pp. 278-281.

doi: 10.1109/ICSIPA.2015.7412204

keywords: {biomedical electrodes;biomedical MRI;cognition;data acquisition;diseases;electroencephalography;image resolution;medical image processing;neurophysiology;EEG-fMRI data recording;data quality point of view;data acquisition;learning process;working memory;person cognitive ability assessment;spatial resolution;temporal resolution;fMRI;functional magnetic resonance imaging;neuroscience community;dysfunction;human brain function;multimodal neuroimaging technique;Electroencephalography;Spatial resolution;Magnetic resonance imaging;Data acquisition;Magnetic fields;Neuroimaging;Electrodes;EEG;fMRI;Simultaneous EEG-fMRI;Multimodal neuroimaging},

URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7412204&isnumber=7412141

https://psychcentral.com/