Region of interest based analysis of functional imaging data

fMRI analysis techniques are presented that test functional hypotheses at the region of interest (ROI) level. An SPM-compatible Matlab toolbox has been developed that allows the creation of subject-specific ROI masks based on anatomical markers and the testing of functional hypotheses on the regional response using multivariate time-series analysis techniques. The combined application of subject-specific ROI definition and region-level functional analysis is shown to appropriately compensate for intersubject anatomical variability, offering finer localization and increased sensitivity to task-related effects than standard techniques based on whole-brain normalization and voxel or cluster-level functional analysis, while providing a more direct link between discrete brain region hypotheses and the statistical analyses used to test them.