Concurrent spinal and brain imaging with optically pumped magnetometers

• DOI: 10.1101/2022.05.12.491623
• Publication Date: 2022-05-20T08:41:07Z
• Authors: Lydia C. Mardell; George C. O’Neill; Tim M. Tierney; Ryan C. Timms; Catharina Zich; Gareth R. Barnes; Sven Bestmann
• Keywords: Magnetoencephalography

Abstract The spinal cord and its interactions with the brain are fundamental for movement control somatosensation. However, electrophysiology in humans have largely been treated as distinct enterprises, part due to relative inaccessibility of cord. Consequently, there is a dearth knowledge on human electrophysiology, including multiple pathologies central nervous system that affect well brain. Here we exploit recent advances development wearable optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) which can be flexibly arranged provide coverage both concurrently unconstrained environments. Our magnetospinoencephalography (MSEG) measures cortical signals simultaneously by employing custom-made scanning cast. We evidence utility such recording simultaneous evoked responses median nerve stimulation, demonstrating novel ability concurrent non-invasive millisecond imaging