Authors: Valevicius D, Beck N, Kasper L, Boroday S, Bayer J, Rioux P, Caron B, Adalat R, Evans AC, Khalili-Mahani N
Neuroimaging research requires sophisticated tools for analyzing complex data, but efficiently leveraging these tools can be a major challenge, especially on large datasets. CBRAIN is a web-based platform designed to simplify the use and accessibility of neuroimaging research tools for large-scale, collaborative studies. In this paper, we describe how CBRAIN's unique features and infrastructure were leveraged to integrate TAPAS PhysIO, an open-source MATLAB toolbox for physiological noise modeling in fMRI data. This case study highlights three key elements of CBRAIN's infrastructure that enable streamlined, multimodal tool integration: a user-friendly GUI, a Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) data-entry schema, and convenient in-browser visualization of results. By incorporating PhysIO into CBRAIN, we achieved significant improvements in the speed, ease of use, and scalability of physiological preprocessing. Researchers now have access to a uniform and intuitive interface for analyzing data, which facilitates remote and collaborative evaluation of results. With these improvements, CBRAIN aims to become an essential open-science tool for integrative neuroimaging research, supporting FAIR principles and enabling efficient workflows for complex analysis pipelines.
Keywords: brain imaging data structure (BIDS); fMRI; high performance computing (HPC); neuroimaging; physiological noise correction; software;
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37841811/
DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2023.1251023