New tool transforms, compares dissimilar brain maps

Abstract

An open-source tool enables researchers to quickly compare brain maps plotted in different coordinate systems, such as those derived from MRI scans or microarray probes.The tool, called neuromaps, addresses a core problem that has long plagued neuroscience. As large brain-mapping repositories such as the Allen Brain Atlas and NeuroVault continue to swell in size, tools to easily collect, compare and run statistical analyses across these datasets have lagged behind. "We've been collecting huge amounts of data for a decade in neuroscience, and they all just kind of sit somewhere," says Bradley Voytek, professor of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego, who peer-reviewed the study describing neuromaps, which appeared in Nature Methods in October. "This [tool] allows you to bring them together and integrate them." The neuromaps software is freely available online and built from three main components: a repository of datasets, and tools to both transform brain maps and apply statistical methods.