Sampling & Statistics

Research on the optimization of statistical criteria in neuroimaging developed rapidly, with close collaboration with the late professor Keith Worsley, who introduced the Random Field Theory in neuroimaging–a pioneering approach for addressing the problem of false positives and multiple comparisons.

Current research seeks to adjust the statistical detection power with regards to the multi-scale organization of the brain and to refine the statistical criteria based on a priori assumptions about the “building blocks” of the brain’s functional anatomy.

Related software

fMRISTAT (By Keith Worsley)

Surfstat (By Keith Worsley)

RMINC (By Jason Lerch)

Scale Space Cortical Morphometry Toolbox [download] (By Lu Zhao)

Selected Publications

  • Worsley KJ, Marrett S, Neelin P, Evans AC (1992) A three-dimensional statistical analysis for CBF activation studies in human brain. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 12:900-918.
  • Worsley KJ, Marrett S, Neelin P, Vandal AC, Friston, KJ, Evans AC (1996) A unified statistical approach for determining significant signals in images of cerebral activation. Hum Brain Mapp 4:58-73.
  • Worsley KJ, Cao J, Paus T, Petrides M, Evans AC (1998) Applications of random field theory to functional connectivity. Hum Brain Mapp 6:364-367.
  • Worsley KJ, Andermann M, Koulis T, MacDonald D, Evans AC (1999) Detecting changes in non-isotropic images. Hum Brain Mapp 8:98-101.
  • Worsley KJ, Chen J-I., Lerch J, Evans AC (2005) Comparing connectivity via thresholding correlations and SVD. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 360:913-920.
  • Lerch JP, Evans AC (2005) Cortical thickness analysis examined through power analysis and a population simulation. Neuroimage 24(1):163-73
  • Chung MK, Robbins S, Evans AC (2005) Unified statistical approach to cortical thickness analysis. Inf Process Med Imaging 19:627-38.
  • Bellec P, Rosa-Neto P, Lyttelton OC, Benali H, Evans AC (2010) Multi-level bootstrap analysis of stable clusters in resting-state fMRI. Neuroimage 51(3):1126-39.
  • Bellec P, Perlbarg V, Evans AC (2009) Bootstrap generation and evaluation of an fMRI simulation database. Magn Reson Imaging 27(10):1382-96.
  • Zhao L, Boucher M, Rosa-Neto P, Evans AC (2013) Impact of scale space search on age and gender-related changes in MRI-based cortical morphometry. Hum Brain Mapp 34(9):2113-28.
  • Tohka J, He Y, Evans AC (2012) The impact of sampling density upon cortical network analysis: regions or points. Magn Reson Imaging 30(7):978-92.