Intersubject Normalization for Group Analyses in fMRI Last Update: January 18, 2012 Last Course: Psychology 9223, W2010, University of Western Ontario Jody Culham Brain and Mind Institute Department of Psychology University of Western Ontario

Brains are Heterogeneous Slide from Duke course

How can we define regions? Talairach coordinates Example: The FFA is at x = 40, y = -55, z = -10 Anatomical localization Example: The FFA is in the right fusiform gyrus at the level of the occipitotemporal junction Functional localization Example: The FFA includes all voxels around the fusiform gyrus that are activated by the comparison between faces and objects Kanwisher, McDermott & Chun, 1997, J Neurosci

Talairach Coordinate System Note: That’s TalAIRach, not TAILarach! Talairach & Tournoux, 1988 made an atlas based on one brain any brain can be squished or stretched to fit hers and locations can be described using a 3D coordinate system (x, y, z) … from an alcoholic old lady

Rotate brain into ACPC plane Find posterior commisure (PC) Find anterior commisure (AC) ACPC line = horizontal axis Corpus Callosum Fornix Pineal Body “bent asparagus” Note: official Tal says to use top of AC and bottom of PC but I suspect few people actually do this Source: Duvernoy, 1999

Squish or stretch brain to fit in “shoebox” of Tal system Deform brain into Talairach space y AC=0y>0y<0 ACPC=0 y>0 y<0 z x Extract 3 coordinates Mark 8 points in the brain: anterior commisure posterior commisure front back top bottom (of temporal lobe) left right

Talairach Daemon

Talairach Tables Talairach coordinates can be useful for other people to check whether their activation foci are similar to yours Often it’s easiest to just put coordinates in a table to avoid cluttering text Source: Culham et al., 2003, Exp. Brain Res.

Do We need a “Tarailach Atras”? Variability between Japanese and European brains, both male (red > yellow > green > blue) Variability between male and female brains, both European (red > yellow > green > blue) Source: Zilles et al., 2001, NeuroImage

MNI Space Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute created a better template based on a morphed average of hundreds of brains (not just one brain like Talairach) The MNI brain is more representative of average brain shape; however, it does not provide Brodmann areas The MNI alignment is more complex than Talairach: SPM uses it but many software packages still use Talairach CAVEAT: The MNI and Talairach coordinate are similar but not identical -- careful comparison requires a transformation -- converters can be found online Source:

Another Look at RFX Huettel, Song & McCarthy, 2008

Smoothing and Averaging Large activations across multiple subjects are more likely to show common activation than small ones --> Need to smooth (esp. for RFX analyses) UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Need to make a slide that shows this with real data

Talairach Pros and Cons Advantages widespread system allows averaging of fMRI data between subjects allows researchers to compare activation foci relatively easy to use Disadvantages not appropriate for all brains (e.g., Japanese brains don’t fit well) activation foci can vary considerably – other landmarks like sulci may be more reliable

Left is what?!!! Neurologic (i.e. sensible) convention left is left, right is right LR Radiologic (i.e. stupid) convention left is right, right is left RL Note: Make sure you know what your magnet and software are doing before publishing left/right info! x = Note: If you’re really unsure which side is which, tape a vitamin E capsule to the one side of the subject’s head. It will show up on the anatomical image. (Remember which side you put it on!)

Brodmann’s Areas Brodmann (1905): Based on cytoarchitectonics: study of differences in cortical layers between areas Most common delineation of cortical areas More recent schemes subdivide Brodmann’s areas into many smaller regions Monkey and human Brodmann’s areas not necessarily homologous

Anatomical Localization Sulci and Gyri gray matter (dendrites & synapses) white matter (axons) FUNDUS BANK SULCUS GYRUS SULCUS gray/white border pial surface FISSURE Source: Ludwig & Klingler, 1956, in Tamraz & Comair, 2000

Variability of Sulci Source: Szikla et al., 1977, in Tamraz & Comair, 2000

Variability of Functional Areas Watson et al., motion-selective area, MT+ (=V5) is quite variable in stereotaxic space - however, the area is quite consistent in its location relative to sulci - junction of inferior temporal sulcus and lateral occipital sulcus - see also Dumoulin et al., 2000

Cortical Surfaces segment gray-white matter boundary inflate cortical surface sulci = concave = dark gray gyri = convex = light gray render cortical surface Advantages surfaces are topologically more accurate alignment across sessions and experiments allows task comparisons

Cortical Inflation Movie Movie: unfoldorig.mpeg Source: Marty Sereno’s web pageMarty Sereno’s web page

Cortical Flattening Source: Brain Voyager Getting Started Guide 2) make cuts along the medial surface (Note, one cut typically goes along the fundus of the calcarine sulcus though in this example the cut was placed below) 1) inflate the brain 3) unfold the medial surface so the cortical surface lies flat 4) correct for the distortions so that the true cortical distances are preseved

Spherical Averaging Source: Fischl et al., 1999 Future directions of fMRI: Use cortical surface mapping coordinates Inflate the brain into a sphere Use sulci and/or functional areas to match subject’s data to template Cite “latitude” & “longitude” of spherical coordinates Movie: brain2ellipse.mpeg Source: Marty Sereno’s web pageMarty Sereno’s web page

Spherical Averaging Source: MIT HST583 online course notes

Learning Brain Anatomy Duvernoy, 1999, The Human Brain: Surface, Blood Supply, and Three-Dimensional Sectional Anatomy beautiful pictures good schematic diagrams clear anatomy slices of real brain Springer, US$439 Ono, 1990, Atlas of the Cerebral Sulci great for showing intersubject variability gives probabilities of configurations and stats on sulci Theime, US$199 Damasio,2005, Human Brain Anatomy in Computerized Images, 2nd edition good for showing sulci across wide range of slice planes 2nd edition much better than 1st edition Oxford University Press, US$100 Tamraz & Comair, 2000, Atlas of Regional Anatomy of the Brain Using MRI with Functional Correlations good overview Springer, US$203 Talairach & Tournoux, Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain just because it’s the standard doesn’t mean it’s good (see also PC vs. Mac, VHS vs. betamax) Theime, US$240 Wanna get rich? Publish a brain atlas. Sheesh, these are expensive!