Insights into the Human Brain

The aim of MEG and EEG recordings is to obtain new information about human brain function, especially with respect to the millisecond-range neurodynamics in both the healthy and diseased brains and to relate this information to observed behavior. This chapter reviews some basic principles of human brain structure and function, including thalamocortical and other kinds of intrabrain connectivity that may be relevant for the design and interpretation of MEG and EEG recordings. Some basic aspects of electrical signaling in neurons and neural populations of the cerebral cortex are presented, including membrane potentials, action potentials, and postsynaptic potentials. The contribution of these electrical signals to MEG and EEG records are examined.