DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A browser-based tool for visualization and analysis of diffusion MRI data

Abstract

Human neuroscience research faces several challenges with regards to reproducibility. While scientists are generally aware that data sharing is important, it is not always clear how to share data in a manner that allows other labs to understand and reproduce published findings. Here we report a new open source tool, AFQ-Browser, that builds an interactive website as a companion to a diffusion MRI study. Because AFQ-Browser is portable—it runs in any web-browser—it can facilitate transparency and data sharing. Moreover, by leveraging new web-visualization technologies to create linked views between different dimensions of the dataset (anatomy, diffusion metrics, subject metadata), AFQ-Browser facilitates exploratory data analysis, fueling new discoveries based on previously published datasets. In an era where Big Data is playing an increasingly prominent role in scientific discovery, so will browser-based tools for exploring high-dimensional datasets, communicating scientific discoveries, aggregating data across labs, and publishing data alongside manuscripts.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Inst. for Learning & Brain Sciences and Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
  2. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Dept. of Physics
  3. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Dept of Chemical Engineering
  4. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Inst. for Learning & Brain Sciences, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and eScience Institute
  5. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). eScience Institute
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Krell Institute, Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1529919
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-97ER25308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES

Citation Formats

Yeatman, Jason D., Richie-Halford, Adam, Smith, Josh K., Keshavan, Anisha, and Rokem, Ariel. A browser-based tool for visualization and analysis of diffusion MRI data. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03297-7.
Yeatman, Jason D., Richie-Halford, Adam, Smith, Josh K., Keshavan, Anisha, & Rokem, Ariel. A browser-based tool for visualization and analysis of diffusion MRI data. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03297-7
Yeatman, Jason D., Richie-Halford, Adam, Smith, Josh K., Keshavan, Anisha, and Rokem, Ariel. Mon . "A browser-based tool for visualization and analysis of diffusion MRI data". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03297-7. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529919.
@article{osti_1529919,
title = {A browser-based tool for visualization and analysis of diffusion MRI data},
author = {Yeatman, Jason D. and Richie-Halford, Adam and Smith, Josh K. and Keshavan, Anisha and Rokem, Ariel},
abstractNote = {Human neuroscience research faces several challenges with regards to reproducibility. While scientists are generally aware that data sharing is important, it is not always clear how to share data in a manner that allows other labs to understand and reproduce published findings. Here we report a new open source tool, AFQ-Browser, that builds an interactive website as a companion to a diffusion MRI study. Because AFQ-Browser is portable—it runs in any web-browser—it can facilitate transparency and data sharing. Moreover, by leveraging new web-visualization technologies to create linked views between different dimensions of the dataset (anatomy, diffusion metrics, subject metadata), AFQ-Browser facilitates exploratory data analysis, fueling new discoveries based on previously published datasets. In an era where Big Data is playing an increasingly prominent role in scientific discovery, so will browser-based tools for exploring high-dimensional datasets, communicating scientific discoveries, aggregating data across labs, and publishing data alongside manuscripts.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-03297-7},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 32 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1 Fig. 1 : Development of the corticospinal tract, arcuate fasciculus, and cingulum. Tract profiles of mean diffusivity (top) and fractional anisotropy (bottom) are shown for the left hemisphere corticospinal tract (CST, orange), arcuate fasciculus (blue), and cingulum (green). Splitting the group by age, and selecting 3 bins, displays mean linesmore » of three groups: 8–15 (red), 15–30 (purple), and 30–50 (blue). For the CST, there is a region that shows a decrease in FA with development, and this location of the tract is highlighted on the plot using the “brushable tracts” feature (shaded gray box). The linked view in the anatomy displays the portion of the CST that is brushed in the plot demonstrating that this effect occurs in the anatomical portion of the CST known as the centrum semiovale, adjacent to the arcuate fasciculus. This linked visualization provides a connection between the data plots and the 3D Anatomy. Data and MATLAB code are available at https://github.com/YeatmanLab/AFQ-Browser_data (see Figure2_Development.m) and running AFQ-Browser instance at: https://YeatmanLab.github.io/AFQBrowser-demo/)« less

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Myelin and iron concentration in the human brain: A quantitative study of MRI contrast
journal, June 2014


Machine Learning and Its Applications to Biology
journal, January 2007


Structural abnormality of the corticospinal tract in major depressive disorder
journal, January 2014

  • Sacchet, Matthew D.; Prasad, Gautam; Foland-Ross, Lara C.
  • Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/2045-5380-4-8

Tidy Data
journal, January 2014


NeuroVault.org: a web-based repository for collecting and sharing unthresholded statistical maps of the human brain
journal, April 2015

  • Gorgolewski, Krzysztof J.; Varoquaux, Gael; Rivera, Gabriel
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 9
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2015.00008

White Matter Alterations in Infants at Risk for Developmental Dyslexia
journal, December 2015


Using high-resolution quantitative mapping of R1 as an index of cortical myelination
journal, June 2014


Automated Analysis of Fundamental Features of Brain Structures
journal, March 2011


Development of white matter and reading skills
journal, October 2012

  • Yeatman, J. D.; Dougherty, R. F.; Ben-Shachar, M.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 44
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206792109

Lifespan maturation and degeneration of human brain white matter
journal, September 2014

  • Yeatman, Jason D.; Wandell, Brian A.; Mezer, Aviv A.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5932

The Statistical Crisis in Science
journal, January 2014


Quantifying the local tissue volume and composition in individual brains with magnetic resonance imaging
journal, November 2013

  • Mezer, Aviv; Yeatman, Jason D.; Stikov, Nikola
  • Nature Medicine, Vol. 19, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1038/nm.3390

A meta-analysis of diffusion tensor imaging studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
journal, August 2012


Tract Profiles of White Matter Properties: Automating Fiber-Tract Quantification
journal, November 2012


Differences in the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus but no general disruption of white matter tracts in children with autism spectrum disorder
journal, January 2014

  • Koldewyn, Kami; Yendiki, Anastasia; Weigelt, Sarah
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1324037111

Compromised Neurocircuitry in Chronic Blast‐Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
journal, August 2016

  • Yeh, Ping‐Hong; Guan Koay, Cheng; Wang, Binquan
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 38, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23365

BigBrain: An Ultrahigh-Resolution 3D Human Brain Model
journal, June 2013


Data sharing in neuroimaging research
journal, January 2012

  • Poline, Jean-Baptiste; Breeze, Janis L.; Ghosh, Satrajit
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 6
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2012.00009

Altered diffusion tensor in multiple sclerosis normal-appearing brain tissue: Cortical diffusion changes seem related to clinical deterioration
journal, May 2006

  • Vrenken, Hugo; Pouwels, Petra J. W.; Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
  • Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 23, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20564

Fiberweb: Diffusion Visualization and Processing in the Browser
journal, August 2017

  • Ledoux, Louis-Philippe; Morency, Felix C.; Cousineau, Martin
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 11
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2017.00054

Fsl
journal, August 2012


Imaging outcomes for trials of remyelination in multiple sclerosis
journal, April 2014

  • Mallik, Shahrukh; Samson, Rebecca S.; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A. M.
  • Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, Vol. 85, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2014-307650

Regional DTI differences in multiple sclerosis patients
journal, February 2009


Toddlers later diagnosed with autism exhibit multiple structural abnormalities in temporal corpus callosum fibers
journal, December 2017


Regional DTI differences in multiple sclerosis patients
journal, February 2009


flusight: interactive visualizations for infectious disease forecasts
journal, May 2017

  • Tushar, Abhinav; G. Reich, Nicholas
  • The Journal of Open Source Software, Vol. 2, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.21105/joss.00231

Toddlers later diagnosed with autism exhibit multiple structural abnormalities in temporal corpus callosum fibers
journal, December 2017


Subconcussive Head Impact Exposure and White Matter Tract Changes over a Single Season of Youth Football
journal, December 2016


Pycortex: an interactive surface visualizer for fMRI
journal, September 2015

  • Gao, James S.; Huth, Alexander G.; Lescroart, Mark D.
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 9
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2015.00023

CBRAIN: a web-based, distributed computing platform for collaborative neuroimaging research
journal, May 2014

  • Sherif, Tarek; Rioux, Pierre; Rousseau, Marc-Etienne
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 8
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2014.00054

Quantifying the local tissue volume and composition in individual brains with magnetic resonance imaging
journal, November 2013

  • Mezer, Aviv; Yeatman, Jason D.; Stikov, Nikola
  • Nature Medicine, Vol. 19, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1038/nm.3390

BigBrain: An Ultrahigh-Resolution 3D Human Brain Model
journal, June 2013


Preoperative automated fibre quantification predicts postoperative seizure outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy
journal, November 2016

  • Keller, Simon S.; Glenn, G. Russell; Weber, Bernd
  • Brain, Vol. 140, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww280

MRIQC: Advancing the automatic prediction of image quality in MRI from unseen sites
journal, September 2017


The Brain Basis of Language Processing: From Structure to Function
journal, October 2011


The ASA Statement on p -Values: Context, Process, and Purpose
journal, April 2016


Automated Analysis of Fundamental Features of Brain Structures
journal, March 2011


Natural speech reveals the semantic maps that tile human cerebral cortex
journal, April 2016

  • Huth, Alexander G.; de Heer, Wendy A.; Griffiths, Thomas L.
  • Nature, Vol. 532, Issue 7600
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature17637

The corticospinal tract profile in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Corticospinal Tract Profile
journal, September 2016

  • Sarica, Alessia; Cerasa, Antonio; Valentino, Paola
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 38, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23412

Tract Profiles of White Matter Properties: Automating Fiber-Tract Quantification
journal, November 2012


What does research reproducibility mean?
journal, June 2016

  • Goodman, Steven N.; Fanelli, Daniele; Ioannidis, John P. A.
  • Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 8, Issue 341
  • DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf5027

The Statistical Crisis in Science
journal, January 2014


Diffusion properties of major white matter tracts in young, typically developing children
journal, March 2014


Development of white matter and reading skills
journal, October 2012

  • Yeatman, J. D.; Dougherty, R. F.; Ben-Shachar, M.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 44
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206792109

The Brain Basis of Language Processing: From Structure to Function
journal, October 2011


Fsl
journal, August 2012


Data sharing in neuroimaging research
journal, January 2012

  • Poline, Jean-Baptiste; Breeze, Janis L.; Ghosh, Satrajit
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 6
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2012.00009

FreeSurfer
journal, August 2012


Machine Learning and Its Applications to Biology
journal, January 2007


Advances in MRI-based computational neuroanatomy: from morphometry to in-vivo histology
journal, January 2015


Characterizing white matter connectivity in major depressive disorder: Automated fiber quantification and maximum density paths
conference, April 2014

  • Sacchet, Matthew D.; Prasad, Gautam; Foland-Ross, Lara C.
  • 2014 IEEE 11th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI)
  • DOI: 10.1109/isbi.2014.6867940

DTI Measurements in Multiple Sclerosis: Evaluation of Brain Damage and Clinical Implications
journal, January 2013

  • Sbardella, Emilia; Tona, Francesca; Petsas, Nikolaos
  • Multiple Sclerosis International, Vol. 2013
  • DOI: 10.1155/2013/671730

Compromised Neurocircuitry in Chronic Blast‐Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
journal, August 2016

  • Yeh, Ping‐Hong; Guan Koay, Cheng; Wang, Binquan
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 38, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23365

D³ Data-Driven Documents
journal, December 2011

  • Bostock, M.; Ogievetsky, V.; Heer, J.
  • IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, Vol. 17, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2011.185

CBRAIN: a web-based, distributed computing platform for collaborative neuroimaging research
journal, May 2014

  • Sherif, Tarek; Rioux, Pierre; Rousseau, Marc-Etienne
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 8
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2014.00054

Structural abnormality of the corticospinal tract in major depressive disorder
journal, January 2014

  • Sacchet, Matthew D.; Prasad, Gautam; Foland-Ross, Lara C.
  • Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/2045-5380-4-8

White Matter Consequences of Retinal Receptor and Ganglion Cell Damage
journal, September 2014

  • Ogawa, S.; Takemura, H.; Horiguchi, H.
  • Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Vol. 55, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1167/iovs.14-14737

Aging-Resilient Associations between the Arcuate Fasciculus and Vocabulary Knowledge: Microstructure or Morphology?
journal, July 2016


flusight: interactive visualizations for infectious disease forecasts
journal, May 2017

  • Tushar, Abhinav; G. Reich, Nicholas
  • The Journal of Open Source Software, Vol. 2, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.21105/joss.00231

Fiberweb: Diffusion Visualization and Processing in the Browser
journal, August 2017

  • Ledoux, Louis-Philippe; Morency, Felix C.; Cousineau, Martin
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 11
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2017.00054

The corticospinal tract profile in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Corticospinal Tract Profile
journal, September 2016

  • Sarica, Alessia; Cerasa, Antonio; Valentino, Paola
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 38, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23412

Subconcussive Head Impact Exposure and White Matter Tract Changes over a Single Season of Youth Football
journal, December 2016


Cerebellar white matter pathways are associated with reading skills in children and adolescents: Cerebellar White Matter Pathways in Reading
journal, December 2014

  • Travis, Katherine E.; Leitner, Yael; Feldman, Heidi M.
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 36, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22721

Pycortex: an interactive surface visualizer for fMRI
journal, September 2015

  • Gao, James S.; Huth, Alexander G.; Lescroart, Mark D.
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, Vol. 9
  • DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2015.00023

Better brain connectivity is associated with higher total fat mass and lower visceral adipose tissue in military pilots
journal, January 2020


What does research reproducibility mean?
journal, June 2016

  • Goodman, Steven N.; Fanelli, Daniele; Ioannidis, John P. A.
  • Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 8, Issue 341
  • DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf5027

Preoperative automated fibre quantification predicts postoperative seizure outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy
journal, November 2016

  • Keller, Simon S.; Glenn, G. Russell; Weber, Bernd
  • Brain, Vol. 140, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww280

Altered diffusion tensor in multiple sclerosis normal-appearing brain tissue: Cortical diffusion changes seem related to clinical deterioration
journal, May 2006

  • Vrenken, Hugo; Pouwels, Petra J. W.; Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
  • Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 23, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20564

MRIQC: Advancing the automatic prediction of image quality in MRI from unseen sites
journal, September 2017


In Vivo Functional and Myeloarchitectonic Mapping of Human Primary Auditory Areas
journal, November 2012


White Matter Consequences of Retinal Receptor and Ganglion Cell Damage
journal, September 2014

  • Ogawa, S.; Takemura, H.; Horiguchi, H.
  • Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Vol. 55, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1167/iovs.14-14737

Lifespan maturation and degeneration of human brain white matter
journal, September 2014

  • Yeatman, Jason D.; Wandell, Brian A.; Mezer, Aviv A.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5932

Using high-resolution quantitative mapping of R1 as an index of cortical myelination
journal, June 2014


Tractography: Where Do We Go from Here?
journal, September 2011


A meta-analysis of diffusion tensor imaging studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
journal, August 2012


A method for electrophysiological characterization of hamster retinal ganglion cells using a high-density CMOS microelectrode array
journal, October 2015


Works referencing / citing this record:

Tractostorm: The what, why, and how of tractography dissection reproducibility
journal, January 2020

  • Rheault, Francois; De Benedictis, Alessandro; Daducci, Alessandro
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 41, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24917

From the Wet Lab to the Web Lab: A Paradigm Shift in Brain Imaging Research
journal, March 2019


Associative white matter connecting the dorsal and ventral posterior human cortex
journal, July 2019

  • Bullock, Daniel; Takemura, Hiromasa; Caiafa, Cesar F.
  • Brain Structure and Function, Vol. 224, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01907-8

Tractostorm: The what, why, and how of tractography dissection reproducibility
journal, January 2020

  • Rheault, Francois; De Benedictis, Alessandro; Daducci, Alessandro
  • Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 41, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24917

InTool Explorer: An Interactive Exploratory Analysis Tool for Versatile Visualizations of Neuroscientific Data
journal, March 2019


The open diffusion data derivatives, brain data upcycling via integrated publishing of derivatives and reproducible open cloud services
journal, May 2019


High-gradient diffusion MRI reveals distinct estimates of axon diameter index within different white matter tracts in the in vivo human brain
journal, September 2019


The open diffusion data derivatives, brain data upcycling via integrated publishing of derivatives and reproducible open cloud services
journal, May 2019


Bundle-specific tractography with incorporated anatomical and orientational priors
journal, February 2019


Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.