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The resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach has allowed to investigate the large scale organization of processing systems in the human brain, revealing that it can be viewed as an integrative network of functionally interacting regions. However, to date the neuronal basis of the fluctuations of the fMRI signal at rest are not fully understood, preventing the possibility to elucidate their functional role. In this scenario, the integration with information derived from electroencephalography (EEG) is very useful, since conversely from fMRI, EEG represents a direct measure of neuronal activity. EEG-fMRI resting state studies investigating the correlation between fMRI signals and corresponding global EEG spectral characteristics in single spectral bands have provided a certain degree of inconsistency in the results. This may be due to the fact that the distinct functional networks involve more than a single frequency band and therefore analysis of simultaneous EEG/fMRI data should consider the whole frequency spectrum. A couple of studies have been performed in this directions but they either did not investigate how the scalp distribution of the EEG spectral metrics affects the patterns of correlations between EEG spectral dynamics and fMRI-derived resting state network or did not identify the specific scalp regions that specifically determined the pattern of observed results. To overcome this gap, with the aim to identify specific spatio-spectral fingerprints of distinct networks, a first study was conducted using an analytical approach that allows to take into account the interplay between the different EEG frequency bands and the corresponding topographic distribution within each network. Specifically, this approach was applied to four sub-components of the Default Mode Network (DMN). Results revealed for the first time the presence of distinctive subcomponent-specific spatial-frequency patterns of correlation between the fMRI signal and EEG rhythm. It should however be noted that spatial resolution of the EEG signal is too low to reliably infer about the location of the involved EEG sources. Therefore, a further step forward could be to try extending the findings of the first study in this direction by performing a source estimation study. Since it is not clear whether the 64 channels EEG system employed in the first study can provide adequate localization performance as regard our regions of interest, an investigation of the source reconstruction accuracy throughout the brain was performed in a second study. Specifically, the 64-channel montage was compared to 32-channel montage, the standard in the clinical practice, as well as to 128-channel montage and to 256- channel montage, considered as the upper reference point. Unlike previous studies, source performances were evaluated all over the cortical grey matter. Results indicate that the localization of the cortical sources of the spatio-spectral fingerprints revealed by the previous study can be adequately inferred by using 64 channels, but a confirmation study with a 128, or even better 256, channels montage is needed. Moreover, particular attention should be paid to investigate deep regions, where localization performance is worse regardless the number of electrodes used.

Performance on tasks involving cognitive control such as the Stroop task is often associated with left lateralized brain activations. Based on this neuro-functional evidence, we tested whether leftward structural grey matter asymmetries would also predict inter-individual differences in combatting Stroop interference. To check for the specificity of the results, both a verbal Stroop task and a spatial one were administered to a total of 111 healthy young individuals, for whom T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images were also acquired. Surface thickness and area estimations were calculated using FreeSurfer. Participants' hemispheres were registered to a symmetric template and Laterality Indices (LI) for the surface thickness and for the area at each vertex in each participant were computed. The correlation of these surface LI measures with the verbal and spatial Stroop effects (incongruent-congruent difference in trial performance) was assessed at each vertex by means of general linear models at the whole-brain level. We found a significant correlation between performance and surface area LI in an inferior posterior temporal cluster (overlapping with the so-called visual word form area, VWFA), with a more left-lateralized area in this region associated with a smaller Stroop effect only in the verbal task. These results point to an involvement of the VWFA for higher-level processes based on word reading, including the suppression of this process when required by the task, and could be interpreted in the context of cross-hemispheric rivalry.

The ability to check and evaluate the environment over time with the aim to detect the occurrence of target stimuli is supported by sustained/tonic as well as transient/phasic control processes, which overall might be referred to as event monitoring. The neural underpinning of sustained attentional control processes involves a fronto-parietal network. However, it has not been well-defined yet whether this cortical circuit acts irrespective of the specific material to be monitored and whether this mediates sustained as well as transient monitoring processes. In the current study, the functional activity of brain during an event monitoring task was investigated and compared between two cognitive domains, whose processing is mediated by differently lateralized areas. Namely, participants were asked to monitor sequences of either faces (supported by right-hemisphere regions) or tools (left-hemisphere). In order to disentangle sustained from transient components of monitoring, a simultaneous EEG-fMRI technique was adopted within a block design. When contrasting monitoring versus control blocks, the conventional fMRI analysis revealed the sustained involvement of bilateral fronto-parietal regions, in both task domains. Event-related potentials (ERPs) showed a more positive amplitude over frontal sites in monitoring compared to control blocks, providing evidence of a transient monitoring component. The joint ERP-fMRI analysis showed that, in the case of face monitoring, this transient component relies on right-lateralized areas, including the inferior parietal lobule and the middle frontal gyrus. In the case of tools, no fronto-parietal areas correlated with the transient ERP activity, suggesting that in this domain phasic monitoring processes were masked by tonic ones. Overall, the present findings highlight the role of bilateral fronto-parietal regions in sustained monitoring, independently of the specific task requirements, and suggest that right-lateralized areas subtend transient monitoring processes, at least in some task contexts.