title: Neuroimaging in aphasia treatment research: consensus and practical guidelines for data analysis.
abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging is the most widely used imaging technique to study treatment-induced recovery in post-stroke aphasia. The longitudinal design of such studies adds to the challenges researchers face when studying patient populations with brain damage in cross-sectional settings. The present review focuses on issues specifically relevant to neuroimaging data analysis in aphasia treatment research identified in discussions among international researchers at the Neuroimaging in Aphasia Treatment Research Workshop held at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois, USA). In particular, we aim to provide the reader with a critical review of unique problems related to the pre-processing, statistical modeling and interpretation of such data sets. Despite the fact that data analysis procedures critically depend on specific design features of a given study, we aim to discuss and communicate a basic set of practical guidelines that should be applicable to a wide range of studies and useful as a reference for researchers pursuing this line of research.
authors.affiliation: Charite Universitätsmedizin, Department of Neurology, Center for Stroke Research Berlin & Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Berlin, Germany. marcus.meinzer@charite.de
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meinzer
authors.forename: Pélagie M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Beeson
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cappa
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crinion
authors.forename: Swathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kiran
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saur
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parrish
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crosson
authors.forename: Cynthia K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D001037:Aphasia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D032921:Consensus; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015233:Models, Statistical; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D020127:Recovery of Function