The WFU_Pickatlas software toolbox (pickatlas) is a highly successful package written in Matlab for ROI-based (region of interest) analyses of brain imaging data. It provides a powerful method of probing virtually any type of brain imaging data using automatically generated masks based on lobar anatomy, cortical and subcortical anatomy, and Brodmann areas. The pickatlas was the first tool available to the neuroimaging community for performing automated hypothesis-based ROI analyses, and it remains a highly used tool. It was designed to be used with SPM, and requires the statistical analyses to be processed through SPM. Since the original release of the pickatlas, there have been rapid advances in ROI-based methods of analyzing data, including in other popular fMRI processing environments (e.g., FSL, AFNI, etc). In this R03, we plan to extend the pickatlas package to be usable by anyone regardless of the original software used to analyze the data, as long as a T, F, or Z-map is generated, and information on degrees of freedom and smoothness are available.
In specific aim 2 we will add functionality often requested by pickatlas users including the addition of two non- human primate atlases and NifTi format compatibility.
In specific aim 3 we will generate complete documentation, including an updated user manual, and a developer's manual. All software, source code, manuals, and atlas templates will be distributed freely through the NITRC (Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse, www.nitrc.gov). We will participate in community activities with the NITRC, including meetings and phone conferences.
Hypothesis driven analysis based on neuroanatomy is critical to brain imaging studies of human brain disorders and disease, as well as animal studies geared towards understanding brain disease. This project will build on the pickatlas software to provide automated neuroanatomical region of interest analyses for human imaging studies and studies of non-human primates. ? ?
