Registration Pluralism and the Cartographic Approach to Data Aggregation across Brains

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Neuroscience has become increasingly reliant on multi-subject research in addition to studies of unusual single patients. This research has brought with it a challenge: how are data from different human brains to be combined? The dominant strategy for aggregating data across brains is what I call the ‘cartographic approach’, which involves mapping data from individuals to a spatial template. Here I characterize the cartographic approach and argue that one of its key steps, registration, should be carried out in a way that is sensitive to the target of investigation. Because registration aims to align homologous brain locations, but not all homologous locations can be simultaneously aligned, a multiplicity of registration methods is required to meet the needs of researchers investigating different phenomena. I call this position ‘registration pluralism’. Registration pluralism has potential implications for neuroscientific practice, three of which I discuss here. This work shows the importance of reflecting more carefully on data aggregation methods, especially in light of the substantial individual differences that exist between brains. 1Introduction: Data Aggregation in Neuroscience2The Contemporary Cartographic Approach to Aggregation across Brains3Registration Pluralism4Homology and the Goal of Registration5Organizational Variation and Failures of Simultaneous Alignment6The Scope of Registration Pluralism7Potential Methodological Implications of Registration Pluralism7.1Purpose-sensitive selection of registration methods7.2Functional registration7.3Standardized preprocessing pipelines8Registration Pluralism and the Study of the Brain9Conclusion</jats:p>

Beyond the Platonic Brain: facing the challenge of individual differences in function-structure mapping

“…Researchers have come up with several different techniques for aggregating data from multiple sub-jects. A common strategy, that Zina Ward (2019) dubbed the cartographic approach, consists in plotting activations from multiple subjects' brain onto a common reference space or template. But other approaches exist, that employ functional criteria together with anatomical ones to align brain activations of multiple subjects (cf.…”

“…Nevertheless, working under the assumption of a Platonic Brain Model comes with some theoretical costs and risks. For instance, Zina Ward (2019) shows how, when different brains are aligned with respect with some features (e.g. microanatomical properties) in neuroimaging studies, this may result in misalignment in other features (e.g.…”

“…Also, Broca's Area has been reconceptualized as consisting in two structures: "one frontotemporal language-selective network and a second that belongs to the domain-general frontoparietal [multiple-demand] network" (Fedorenko and Blank 2020: p. 270), whose distinction was largely overlooked in group studies due to their anatomical proximity (Z. Ward 2019).…”