Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 6 January 1978:
Vol. 199. no. 4324, pp. 81 - 83
DOI: 10.1126/science.199.4324.81
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Somatically Evoked Magnetic Fields of the Human Brain

D. BRENNER 1, J. LIPTON 2, L. KAUFMAN 2, and S. J. WILLIAMSON 3

1 Departments of Physics and Psychology, New York University, New York 10003
2 Department of Psychology, New York University
3 Department of Physics, New York University

The human brain is found to produce a magnetic field near the scalp which varies in synchrony with periodic electrical stimulation applied to a finger. Use of a highly sensitive superconducting quantum interference device as a magnetic field detector reveals that the brain's field is sharply localized over the primary projection area of the sensory cortex contralateral to the digit being stimulated. The phase of the response at the stimulus frequency varies monotonically with the repetition rate and at intermediate frequencies yields a latency of approximately 70 milli-seconds for cortical response.

Submitted on May 19, 1977
Revised on August 17, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Neural Correlates of Tactile Detection: A Combined Magnetoencephalography and Biophysically Based Computational Modeling Study.
S. R. Jones, D. L. Pritchett, S. M. Stufflebeam, M. Hamalainen, and C. I. Moore (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 10751-10764
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Electrical sources in human somatosensory cortex: identification by combined magnetic and potential recordings.
C. Wood, D Cohen, B. Cuffin, M Yarita, and T Allison (1985)
Science 227, 1051-1053
   Abstract »    PDF »
Neuromagnetic localization of epileptiform spike activity in the human brain.
D. Barth, W Sutherling, J Engel Jr, and J Beatty (1982)
Science 218, 891-894
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)