XTRACT - Standardised protocols for automated tractography in the human and macaque brain

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Computational Neuroscience
• Comparative Anatomy

Background:

• Automated white matter tractography is crucial for understanding brain structure and function.
• Standardized protocols are needed for robust and reproducible analysis across different datasets and species.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel software package with standardized tractography protocols for automated white matter tract extraction.
• To create species-specific white matter atlases and tract endpoint atlases.
• To validate the robustness, generalizability, and anatomical accuracy of the developed protocols.

Main Methods:

• Development of a software package with a library of standardized tractography protocols.
• Application of protocols to in vivo (Human Connectome Project, UK Biobank) and ex vivo macaque brain datasets.
• Generation of white matter atlases and tract endpoint atlases for humans and macaques.

Main Results:

• The software package successfully automates white matter tract extraction in both human and macaque brains.
• The developed protocols demonstrate robustness against data quality variations and generalizability across species.
• The protocols accurately reflect known neuroanatomy and capture inter-subject variability, including human tract lateralization and twin similarities.

Conclusions:

• The presented software toolbox facilitates the generation of imaging-derived features in large cohorts.
• The tool aids in comparative neuroanatomy studies by enabling standardized tractography.
• Public release through FSL promotes open science and standardized neuroimaging analysis.