Localization of Realistic Spatial Patches of Complex Source Activity in MEG and EEG

Accurate localization of neural sources in Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Electroencephalography (EEG) is essential for advancing clinical and research applications in neuroscience. Traditional approaches like dipole fitting (e.g., MUSIC, RAP-MUSIC) are limited to discrete focal sources, while distributed source imaging methods (e.g., MNE, sLORETA) assume sources distributed across the cortical surface. These methods, however, often fail to capture sources with complex spatial extents, limiting their accuracy in realistic settings. To address these limitations, we introduce PATCH-AP, an enhanced version of the Alternating Projection (AP) method that effectively localizes both discrete and spatially extended sources. We evaluated PATCH-AP against leading source localization methods, including distributed source imaging techniques (MNE, sLORETA), traditional dipole fitting (AP), and recent extended source methods (Convexity-Champagne (CC), FLEX-AP). PATCH-AP consistently outperformed these methods in simulations, achieving lower Earth Mover’s Distance (EMD) scores—a metric indicating closer alignment with the true source distribution. In tests with real MEG data from a face perception task and auditory task, PATCH-AP demonstrated high alignment with the fusiform face area and auditory cortex region. These results highlight PATCH-AP’s potential to enhance source localization accuracy, promising significant advancements in neuroscience research and clinical diagnostics.