17th International Conference On Biomagnetism Advances In Biomagnetism Biomag 2010 March 28 April 1 2010

40th anniversary of "medical uses of SQUID" th It is my great pleasure and honor to invite you to the 17 International Conference on Biomagnetism – Biomag2010 held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from Sunday, March 28 through Thursday, April 1, 2010. The interdisciplinary field of biomagnetism includes dynamic and evolving SQUID-based technologies offering advanced real-time methods for noninvasive assessments of magnetic signals from the brain, heart and other organs as well as a range of modeling, mathematical and computational methods for functional source localization approaches. Excellent spatial resolution and unique, millisecond, temporal resolution of biomagnetic techniques allow insights into cortical neurodynamics and neurobiological basis of the human brain as well as assessment of heart and other organs functions in health and disease. Biomag2010 will be a great opportunity for an exchange of ideas and presentation of the latest developments in instrumentation, modeling approaches, basic and clinical biomedical studies. We are particularly proud to announce the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first SQUID-based MCG measurements published on April 1, 1970. Since then ''medical uses of SQUID'' were dynamic and growing, including the most recent developments, in combination with a low field MRI, toward a ''direct neuronal imaging''. Dubrovnik, the host city of the Biomag2010, a jewel on the Adriatic, will be a superb and stimulating setting for both scientific and social aspects of this meeting. I am looking forward to hosting you in Dubrovnik, Croatia in spring of 2010.

40th anniversary of "medical uses of SQUID" th It is my great pleasure and honor to invite you to the 17 International Conference on Biomagnetism – Biomag2010 held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from Sunday, March 28 through Thursday, April 1, 2010. The interdisciplinary field of biomagnetism includes dynamic and evolving SQUID-based technologies offering advanced real-time methods for noninvasive assessments of magnetic signals from the brain, heart and other organs as well as a range of modeling, mathematical and computational methods for functional source localization approaches. Excellent spatial resolution and unique, millisecond, temporal resolution of biomagnetic techniques allow insights into cortical neurodynamics and neurobiological basis of the human brain as well as assessment of heart and other organs functions in health and disease. Biomag2010 will be a great opportunity for an exchange of ideas and presentation of the latest developments in instrumentation, modeling approaches, basic and clinical biomedical studies. We are particularly proud to announce the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first SQUID-based MCG measurements published on April 1, 1970. Since then ''medical uses of SQUID'' were dynamic and growing, including the most recent developments, in combination with a low field MRI, toward a ''direct neuronal imaging''. Dubrovnik, the host city of the Biomag2010, a jewel on the Adriatic, will be a superb and stimulating setting for both scientific and social aspects of this meeting. I am looking forward to hosting you in Dubrovnik, Croatia in spring of 2010.

NEW FRONTIERS IN BIOMAGNETISM contains selected papers based on presentations at the 15th International Conference on Biomagnetism (Biomag 2006), held in Vancouver between the 20th and 26th of August, 2006. The conference brought together over 500 scientists and specialists from around the world to present the latest scientific and technological developments in the field of Biomagnetism - the measurement of magnetic signals produced by electric currents in the human body. The study of the minute magnetic fields resulting from heart and muscle contraction, signal conduction in the nervous system, or by the magnetization of biological tissue has grown steadily since the 5th World Conference on Biomagnetism that was held in Vancouver in August of 1984.Although the conference covered many facets of biomagnetism research, the focus for this year's conference was on new frontiers in biomagnetism - the development of new applications and areas of research. One emphasis was on the application of Magnetoencephalography (MEG) to the study of human development and its potential to help understand the physiological underpinnings of language and cognitive development in children, including neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Down Syndrome, autism and language impairment. There were also many exciting contributions on the latest techniques for the precise localization of brain activity using MEG, and related methods for the study of brain dynamics and distributed networks of neural activity. These novel approaches to the study of human brain function promise to provide new insights into the organization of neural systems underlying motor planning, perception, memory and cognition. Other areas of rapid development discussed in New Frontiers in Biomagnetism include the application of biomagnetic measures in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, and the use of MEG for presurgical functional mapping. Special sessions were also dedicated to the latest developments in Magnetocardiography (MCG) for the assessment of cardiovascular disease and associated disorders of the electrical activity of the heart. This year's conference also held a special symposium in honour of the late Sam Williamson, with presentations from his former colleagues and students that reviewed his life's work and contributions to the field of neuromagnetism. NEW FRONTIERS IN BIOMAGNETISM aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in the field of Biomagnetism and its application to the study of human biological systems. The many new developments and breakthroughs presented at Biomag 2006 made a significant contribution to the advancement of the understanding of brain and cardiac function and provided new tools for clinical applications of this new knowledge.

A modified Linear Estimation Approach was performed to reconstruct current sources within the heart. Based on MRI data sets the Boundary Element Method was used to create tailored multicompartment models of the human thorax which were used to solve the forward problem of magnetocardiography. The ability of the proposed method was demonstrated for the localization of a single current dipole as an example of a focal source. By means of introducing small shiftings to all reconstruction dipoles during linear estimation solution as well as performing a successive focussing strategy ignoring places without significant electrical activity the method could easily be extended to the reconstruction of real 3D sources. Based on a special minimum-norm solution the source volume can be estimated applying a finite element approximation using cube elements. The size of an extended current source can be estimated by superimposing the reconstructed dipoles to an equivalent dipole and comparing the corresponding volume with the sphere which would be related to the equivalent dipole. The deviation of these volumes can be taken as a criterion for non-dipolarity of sources.

Topics include studies of the brain, heart, liver, lungs, muscle, tissue in vitro, advances in instrumentation, development of theory, and related subjects. Three major advances are revealed: newly developed large arrays of magnetic sensors which can sample simultaneously a field pattern from many

Having appeared in the 1930s in Montreal, standardised neuropsychological evaluation has become an essential tool in the clinical diagnosis and evaluation of surgical epileptic patients. Nevertheless, despite great progress over the last 20 to 30 years in the diagnosis and medical treatment of epilepsy, clinical neuropsychology still remains largely associated with surgical epilepsy, particularly surgery of the temporal lobe. Clinical neurology has still not managed to clear a way in the daily practice with patients with all types of epilepsy despite significant advances in cognitive neuroscience and a large number of clinical studies on epilepsy and cognition. How is it that there are only rarely major advances in the field of clinical neuropsychology? It has long been time for this question to be asked, and for an attempt to be made to bring about changes. This was the aim of the Toronto workshop and the result of this book. Every approach was debated, providing important elements to reflect on and allowing a great forum for exchanges. This book includes the communications from the main participants and comments from some others on specific subjects.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an invaluable functional brain imaging technique that provides direct, real-time monitoring of neuronal activity necessary for gaining insight into dynamic cortical networks. Our intentions with this book are to cover the richness and transdisciplinary nature of the MEG field, make it more accessible to newcomers and experienced researchers and to stimulate growth in the MEG area. The book presents a comprehensive overview of MEG basics and the latest developments in methodological, empirical and clinical research, directed toward master and doctoral students, as well as researchers. There are three levels of contributions: 1) tutorials on instrumentation, measurements, modeling, and experimental design; 2) topical reviews providing extensive coverage of relevant research topics; and 3) short contributions on open, challenging issues, future developments and novel applications. The topics range from neuromagnetic measurements, signal processing and source localization techniques to dynamic functional networks underlying perception and cognition in both health and disease. Topical reviews cover, among others: development on SQUID-based and novel sensors, multi-modal integration (low field MRI and MEG; EEG and fMRI), Bayesian approaches to multi-modal integration, direct neuronal imaging, novel noise reduction methods, source-space functional analysis, decoding of brain states, dynamic brain connectivity, sensory-motor integration, MEG studies on perception and cognition, thalamocortical oscillations, fetal and neonatal MEG, pediatric MEG studies, cognitive development, clinical applications of MEG in epilepsy, pre-surgical mapping, stroke, schizophrenia, stuttering, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, autism, aging and neurodegeneration, MEG applications in cognitive neuropharmacology and an overview of the major open-source analysis tools.