Dementia Support Line
Having a MEG scan
Learn about what happens during magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) scans from our video.
- What’s it like to take part in research?
- Having a MRI scan
- Having a cognitive assessment
- Having a lumbar puncture
- Having a PET scan
- You are here: Having a MEG scan
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) are brain imaging methods that measure tiny changes in the brain’s magnetic and electrical fields. These scans allow us to track the timing of brain activity to a precision of around 10 milliseconds. This very high resolution measurement of the timing of brain activity can be used to understand normal processes in the brain, and how things might go wrong in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
During MEG and EEG scans people are usually given a task to do, and brain activity is measured whilst the person does that task. A special cap is worn which contains electrodes that measure the brain’s electrical activity.
