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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging Methods
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1443752

Investigating the effect of template head models on Event-Related Potential source localization: A simulation and real-data study

Provisionally accepted
Emma Depuydt Emma Depuydt 1*Yana Criel Yana Criel 2Miet De Letter Miet De Letter 2Pieter Van Mierlo Pieter Van Mierlo 1
  • 1 Medical Imaging and Signal Processing Unit, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium
  • 2 BrainComm Research Group, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are valuable for studying brain activity with millisecond-level temporal resolution. While the temporal resolution of this technique is excellent, the spatial resolution is limited. Source localization aims to identify the brain regions generating the EEG data, thus increasing the spatial resolution, but its accuracy depends heavily on the head model used. This study compares the performance of subject-specific and template-based head models in both simulated and real-world ERP localization tasks. Simulated data mimicking realistic ERPs was created to evaluate the impact of head model choice systematically. The results indicate that the template models capture the simulated activity less accurately, producing more spurious sources and identifying less true sources correctly. Furthermore, the results show that while creating more accurate and detailed head models is beneficial for the localization accuracy when using subject-specific head models, this is less the case for template head models. The different modelling approaches were also applied to a face recognition dataset. The main N170 source was correctly localized to the fusiform gyrus, a known face processing area, using the subject-specific models. Apart from the fusiform gyrus, the template models also reconstructed several other sources, illustrating the localization inaccuracies. While template models allow researchers to investigate the neural generators of ERP components when no subject-specific MRIs are available, it could lead to misinterpretations. Therefore, it is important to consider a priori knowledge and hypotheses when interpreting results obtained with template head models, acknowledging potential localization errors.

    Keywords: Event-related potentials, EEG, Source estimation, EEG source localization, Head modelling

    Received: 04 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Depuydt, Criel, De Letter and Van Mierlo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Emma Depuydt, Medical Imaging and Signal Processing Unit, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Ghent, 9052, East Flanders, Belgium

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.