User-friendly software for the analysis of brain lesions (ABLe).

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Computational Neuroscience
• Neurology

Background:

• The ABLe software was previously developed to analyze brain lesions, quantifying volume and intersection with cytoarchitecture.
• Significant advancements have been made to ABLe, incorporating neuroimaging community standards for enhanced analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the recent improvements in the ABLe software package.
• To demonstrate the utility of ABLe in analyzing brain lesions and their correlation with behavioral deficits in traumatic brain injury.

Main Methods:

• Spatial normalization to the MNI template brain.
• Utilizing Volume Occupancy Talairach Labels (VOTL) and Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL) atlases for comprehensive brain quantification.
• Extending lesion-symptom mapping methods for multi-subject exploratory analysis of lesion overlap and behavioral deficits.

Main Results:

• The enhanced ABLe software provides detailed characterization of brain lesions, including volume and anatomical localization.
• The software facilitates multi-subject analysis, enabling the exploration of correlations between lesion location and behavioral outcomes.
• Demonstrated the software's capability using data from a traumatic head injury study.

Conclusions:

• The updated ABLe software offers advanced capabilities for brain lesion characterization and analysis in neuroimaging research.
• ABLe is a powerful tool for lesion-symptom mapping, particularly in multi-subject studies involving neurological conditions like traumatic brain injury.
• The software advancements facilitate a deeper understanding of the relationship between brain anatomy and behavioral deficits.