[Locating the central sulcus using three dimensional image fusion system of helmet shaped whole head MEG and MRI].

We compared MR anatomy and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) functional methods in locating the central sulcus. In 20 normal volunteers and 58 patients with intracranial structural lesions, the short latency somatosensory evoked magnetic fields for median nerve and posterior tibial nerve stimuli were measured over the entire head, using a helmet shaped MEG system. The dipole positions estimated by a single current dipole model were projected onto the three dimensional MRI. In 94% of a total of 156 hemispheres, N20m dipole positions for median nerve stimuli coincided with the central sulcus defined by MR anatomical image only. For posterior tibial nerve stimuli, the P38m dipole positions were estimated as being near the medial end of the anatomical central sulcus. MRI and MEG are complementary in locating the central sulcus, even in cases of intracranial structural lesions.