Registration pluralism and the cartographic approach to data aggregation across brains

CNBC Brain Bag
Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC)

Registration pluralism and the cartographic approach to data aggregation across brains

Zina Ward
Graduate Student, CNBC
University of Pittsburgh
September 17, 2018 - 6:00pm
Mellon Institute Social Room

Abstract: 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 is data from different human brains to be combined? The dominant strategy for aggregating data across brains is  “the cartographic approach,” which involves mapping individual data to a spatial template. Here I characterize the cartographic approach and argue that one of its key steps, registration, must 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 interested in different phenomena. I call this position “registration pluralism.” Registration pluralism has important implications for neuroscientific practice, three of which I discuss here: it complicates or undercuts efforts to develop multi-modal atlases, functional registration methods, and standardized preprocessing pipelines.