David F. Abbott1,2, Sarah J. Wilson1,3,
Graeme D. Jackson1,4
1Brain Research Institute, Florey
Neuroscience Institutes (Austin), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 2Department
of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3School
of Behavioural Science, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia; 4Departments of Medicine and Radiology, The University
of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Voxel-based
analysis of group fMRI requires spatial normalisation to a common space. A standard template is most often used to
permit comparison between studies. A popular approach is normalisation of EPI
images directly to the standard template. Other options have included use of
a site-specific template to provide better inter-subject registration, at the
expense of systematic differences between its co-ordinates and standard
space. However, with advances in registration algorithms, is it still worth
using a site-specific template? We used SPM8 to analyse 3T fMRI data of 26
healthy controls and found a site-specific template still provided increased
significance of group activation.