A journey into brain imaging: from the MEG/EEG inverse problem to brain fingerprint

Understanding brain function from magneto-electroencephalographic (M/EEG) measurements requires advanced mathematical and signal processing tools. Although the analysis of M/EEG data at sensors level sheds light on important brain mechanisms, full exploitation of the information contained in such brain data could be achieved by reconstructing the active neural sources from M/EEG measurements. This involves solving an ill-posed and ill-conditioned inverse problem in which not only the identification of the most suitable inversion method [1, 2] but also the calibration of the regularization parameters is of paramount importance. Once time series representing brain activity are available, a next step is to develop tools to extract meaningful information that characterizes brain activity [3, 4], for example, when the subject under study is affected by diseases that impair brain function. The mini-symposium brings together researchers from various disciplines who have developed methodologies that are being successfully used for the analysis of the M/EEG data, the solution of the underlying inverse problem and in the definition of brain fingerprint. The purpose is not only to present the latest research results in this area but also to create a fruitful environment for the development of new ideas.