Brain Mapping in Functional Neurosurgery

Abstract

Functional brain mapping is a procedure that can be used to identify cortical areas that mediate sensorimotor and higher cognitive brain functions, such as language, attention, memory, and cognition. Clinically, it is currently used for preoperative surgical planning in patients suffering from intractable epilepsy and brain tumors, and may soon have significant applications in brain injury, stroke, dementia, and developmental disorders. Functional brain mapping is also a very powerful research tool in the area of cognitive neuroscience and, lately, in psychiatry. Recent technological advances in neuroimaging techniques, the development of large sensor arrays, the use of sophisticated computer systems and superior graphics, gradually make more apparent the relevance of this technique in providing answers to complex questions about the structural and functional connectivity of the brain, and the way it represents and processes information.