Costs: 

In a scale of prices between these technologies, EEG has a low cost, while fNIRS has a moderate, fMRI a high prices and the MEG has the highest.

Mobility of equipment:

The EEG and the NIRS are mobile, usually you can to from a laboratory to another, while the fMRI and MEG are fixed at the structure of the building.

Age range of participants:

EEG and NIRS can be used from premature infants to adults, while fMRI has studies on adults and a few studies on infants and MEG has Studies on adults and young children.

Confinement:

For MEG and fMRI studies, the head of the voluntary will be confined in a small space.

Sensitivity to movement:

NIRS is the technique less sensitive to movement, while EGG is a little sensitive and MEG and fMRI have a high sensibility.

Preparation time:

fMRI and MEG have a fast preparation time. The preparation of caps for EEG and NIRS is time consuming because of the electrodes positioning and detectors/emitters positioning.

Allowed for participants with ferromagnetic implants:

Only EEG and NIRS may be used in participants with these kind of implants.

Spatial Resolution:

EEG has a spatial resolution of centimeters and limited below cortical surface.

MEG has a spatial resolution of millimeters at cortex and is less precise for deep sources.

fMRi has a spatial resolution of millimeters and is not limited to cortical areas.

fNIRS has a spatial resolution of millimeters and is very limited below cortical surface.

Temporal resolution:

EEG, MEG and NIRS have a temporal resolution of milliseconds while fMRI has a temporal resolution of 1 to 5 seconds. Although the hemodynamic activity detected by NIRS is a delayed representation cortical activity.