Multimodality in functional neuroimaging

Abstract

The multimodal approach which is conceptually based on the combination of different noninvasive functional neu-roimaging tools and their registration and co-integration into neuronavigational systems is widely used in presur-gical diagnostics. In particular, the combination of imaging techniques that independently map different functional systems is a useful application, such as functional MRI (in its traditional task-related approach as well as in the increasingly used task-free intrinsic functional connectivity approach) as a technique for the localization of eloquent cortex and diffusion-tensor imaging as a method for the mapping of white matter fiber bundles/tracts. Magnetic source imaging as an additional imaging technique for cortical function mapping is of particular advantage in epilepsy surgery. Advanced functional pathoanatomy-based techniques such as nuclear medicine imaging (multi-ligand imaging) or MR spectroscopy might additionally be useful for the delineation of cerebral lesions (e.g., neoplasms). Although “multimodal imaging” may be complex in data acquisition and postprocessing, it is a valuable instrument to improve surgical planning and performance.