[How to start a neuroimaging study]

Abstract

In order to help researchers understand how to start a neuroimaging study, several tips are described in this paper. These include 1) Choice of an imaging modality, 2) Statistical method, and 3) Interpretation of the results. 1) There are several imaging modalities available in clinical research. Advantages and disadvantages of each modality are described. 2) Statistical Parametric Mapping, which is the most common statistical software for neuroimaging analysis, is described in terms of parameter setting in normalization and level of significance. 3) In the discussion section, the region which shows a significant difference between patients and normal controls should be discussed in relation to the neurophysiology of the disease, making reference to previous reports from neuroimaging studies in normal controls, lesion studies and animal studies. A typical pattern of discussion is described.