Windows into the Brain

The brain is the most amazing thing in the known universe and we know only a tiny bit about what it does. Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) neuroimaging is a new and exciting way of looking at brain activity in real time.

When we experience some event like hearing a word or viewing a pattern, different parts of the brain become active. This is indicated by millions of neurons firing together to transmit the information. When thousands of neurons (represented in only a tiny part of the brain) all fire together, they generate a tiny magnetic field pattern. MEG measures brain activity by measuring the magnetic field patterns produced over the head in response to a given event. For example, when we read a word, magnetic field patterns are created over the parts of the brain that see patterns, as well as over the parts of the brain that recognise form, sound out words, attach meaning to words, and process language. By mapping these magnetic field patterns we are able to track when and where information flows through the brain in response to recognising a word.

Dr Kristen Pammer, from the ANU School of Psychology, does MEG neuroimaging in England, Japan and Finland.