FOR the first time, babies and young children will be able to have their brain activity scanned, thanks to a portable scanner. This could also be useful for imaging the brains of people with movement disorders and other conditions that mean they can’t undergo traditional scans.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) involves analysing the brain’s electrical activity via the magnetic fields it generates just outside the skull. Until now, MEG has involved keeping very still inside a scanner.
Now, Richard Bowtell at the University of Nottingham, UK, and his colleagues have designed a portable MEG device that is worn like a helmet,…
