Minimal Specifications for Non-Human Primate MRI: Challenges in Standardizing and Harmonizing Data Collection

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges and proposes minimal standards for standardizing and harmonizing MRI data collection in non-human primate studies to improve reproducibility and facilitate cross-species neuroimaging research.

Contribution

It introduces minimal guidelines for NHP MRI data acquisition and analysis, emphasizing the use of established human neuroimaging tools and automated preprocessing for multi-center studies.

Findings

Proposes minimal standards for NHP MRI data collection.

Recommends using validated, automated preprocessing tools.

Aims to improve reproducibility and cross-species comparability.

Abstract

Recent methodological advances in MRI have enabled substantial growth in neuroimaging studies of non-human primates (NHPs), while open data-sharing through the PRIME-DE initiative has increased the availability of NHP MRI data and the need for robust multi-subject multi-center analyses. Streamlined acquisition and analysis protocols would accelerate and improve these efforts. However, consensus on minimal standards for data acquisition protocols and analysis pipelines for NHP imaging remains to be established, particularly for multi-center studies. Here, we draw parallels between NHP and human neuroimaging and provide minimal guidelines for harmonizing and standardizing data acquisition. We advocate robust translation of widely used open-access toolkits that are well established for analyzing human data. We also encourage the use of validated, automated pre-processing tools for analyzing NHP data sets. These guidelines aim to refine methodological and analytical strategies for small and large-scale NHP neuroimaging data. This will improve reproducibility of results, and accelerate the convergence between NHP and human neuroimaging strategies which will ultimately benefit fundamental and translational brain science.