Chapter 3
Introduction to Brain Imaging
Einat Liebenthal and Tarun Singhal
3.1 Structural and Functional Brain Imaging: A
Comparative Overview of Techniques
There is tremendous individual variability in both the structure and the functional
organisation of the human brain. Like fingerprints, each brain has a unique
configuration of gyri and sulci (crests and troughs, respectively, in the surface
of the brain) [75, 122]. The brain’s functional organisation can be approximated
based on the gross neuroanatomy. For example, the primary sensorimotor cortices
are in the pre- and postcentral gyri, the primary auditory cortex is in Heschl’s
gyrus, and the primary visual cortex is in the calcarine sulcus [84]. However, gross
neuroanatomical structures are generally not valid markers of the microstructural
and functional organisation of the cortex [136]. In patients with a brain pathology,
oedema or mass effects may obliterate the structure of gyri and sulci and can
induce plasticity in the functional organisation, further limiting the validity of gross
neuroanatomical landmarks for deriving function. Thus, personalised structural and
functional neuroimaging is necessary for mapping brain function. In this chapter,
the main structural and functional neuroimaging methods relevant to diagnosis and
management of patients with a brain tumour or epilepsy are reviewed.
E. Liebenthal () · T. Singhal
Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
e-mail: ELIEBENTHAL@BWH.HARVARD.EDU
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_3
47
Introduction to Brain Imaging
Einat Liebenthal and Tarun Singhal
3.1 Structural and Functional Brain Imaging: A
Comparative Overview of Techniques
There is tremendous individual variability in both the structure and the functional
organisation of the human brain. Like fingerprints, each brain has a unique
configuration of gyri and sulci (crests and troughs, respectively, in the surface
of the brain) [75, 122]. The brain’s functional organisation can be approximated
based on the gross neuroanatomy. For example, the primary sensorimotor cortices
are in the pre- and postcentral gyri, the primary auditory cortex is in Heschl’s
gyrus, and the primary visual cortex is in the calcarine sulcus [84]. However, gross
neuroanatomical structures are generally not valid markers of the microstructural
and functional organisation of the cortex [136]. In patients with a brain pathology,
oedema or mass effects may obliterate the structure of gyri and sulci and can
induce plasticity in the functional organisation, further limiting the validity of gross
neuroanatomical landmarks for deriving function. Thus, personalised structural and
functional neuroimaging is necessary for mapping brain function. In this chapter,
the main structural and functional neuroimaging methods relevant to diagnosis and
management of patients with a brain tumour or epilepsy are reviewed.
E. Liebenthal () · T. Singhal
Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
e-mail: ELIEBENTHAL@BWH.HARVARD.EDU
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_3
47