Hi Donna,

thank you so much for your detailed reply. It helped a great deal.
Three things remain somewhat unclear to me:

1. I think I figured out why the list of permuted clusters in
xx.metric_TMap_Significant_Clusters.txt only has 696 instead of 1000
(=number of iterations) columns in the example contrast. My input columns
were n=13, which would allow up to 2^13=8192 iterations. But only 696 of
the 1000 iterations produce clusters with a T-Value above my defined
threshold. Theses are the ones listed in the output file. Is that
possible?

2. The significant cluster in the example has an area-corrected value of 
1242.687012 and is assigned a p-value of 0.036. This means that it resides
on rank 36 out of my 1000 iterations, right? When I looked up the 100
largest clusters list (my predefined P-threshold was .1) in my output file
the significant cluster would actually take rank 38. what am I getting
wrong here?

3.The correction for multiple comparisons is done by thresholding all real
T-map clusters above the predefined T-Value with the smallest
iterations*alpha cluster of the permutation distribution according to
area-corrected? The corrected P-value for real T-map clusters that survive
this threshold is derived from the rank the clusters hold in the total
iterations list according to area-corrected?

Again, thanks a lot for your answers!!

Julia

> Hi Julia,
>
> Bear with me, because it's been years since I used the caret_command
> tests, which are mostly cluster tests.  We switched from cluster to TFCE
> a year or so ago:
>
> http://brainvis.wustl.edu/wiki/index.php/Caret:Documentation:Statistics#Threshold-Free_Cluster_Enhancement_.28TFCE.29
>
> But those tests are in caret_stats, which is a separate tool/package
> based on java.  Let me know if you want to know more about that.
>
> My inline replies below reflect my best recollection of the cluster tests.
>
> Donna
>
> On 10/08/2010 08:16 AM, Julia Bender wrote:
>> Hi Donna,
>>
>> I've looked more into the "caret_command
>> -metric-statistics-one-sample-t-test" output files. I'm having trouble
>> understanding what all the information means. Maybe you can correct me:
>>
>> 1. xx.metric_TMap.metric:
>> Map of T-Values for the wholebrain (?) for the contrast defined in the
>> xx.metric input files. Those are T-Values exceeding the T-Value
>> thresholds
>> and alpha level I specified in
>> "caret_command-metric-statistics-one-sample-t-test" (eg -300000 2.5 0.1
>> in
>> my case).
> They are not thresholded.  The 2.5 and 0.1 affect the cluster size,
> which affects downstream outputs.  But this TMap is unthresholded.
>>  They are not corrected for multiple comparisons(?).
> No, definitely not.
>> This is the one I should load onto my surface. When I load
>> that TMap, why can I still see T-Values below my defined threshold?
>>
> Right.  I like to use the unthresholded t/f-map for my figures, but
> generate a border around the clusters that were significant, and show
> the border overlaid on the unthresholded t-map.
>> 2.xx.metric_ShuffledTMap.metric:
>> Distribution of T-Values derived from permuting + and - on each element
>> in
>> xx in N iterations (in my case 1000)
>>
> Right, and less than 1000, depending on how many columns there are in
> your input composite metric.
>> 3.xx.metric_TMap_Significant_Clusters.txt:
>> This is what the help page says:
>> "1. Find the biggest cluster in each column of the permutation T-Map
>> metric/shape file and sort them by cluster size."
>> I see two lists of clusters in the output file. I assume the one that is
>> the result of this sorting is the lower one. It has about 700 rows
>> depending on xx, why does it not have 1000 rows, one for each
>> permutation?
>>
> See Sample Report: Two Sample T-Test here:
>
> http://brainvis.wustl.edu/OLD/courses/stats_neurosci/2008_BMEcourse/BME_dld_talk.htm
>
> Yours is a one-sample t-test, but I think the cluster lists will be the
> same.
>
> If your last list of clusters has less than 1000 rows, then you had
> fewer than 10 columns in your input composite metric.  If n is the
> number of columns, and 2 raised to the n is less than your input
> iterations, then Caret will stop at 2^n.
>>  Are the clusters sorted by Num-Nodes, Area or Area corrected?
> Descending area-corrected.
>>  In my files
>> they seem kind of sorted by both... How is a cluster defined?
>>
> By your input thresholds.  The permuted t-maps are thresholded at the
> level specified, and then clusters of contiguous supra-threshold nodes
> are found.  Only the largest in each iteration is saved.  Then they are
> listed in descending order of area-corrected size.
>> "2. Find the largest (alpha)(iterations) clusters in the Permutation
>> T-Map
>> and use its cluster size as the Significant Cluster Cutoff."
>> I assume this is the list of T-Values right below the above list of
>> clusters, why does it contain clusters with a P-Value that is above my
>> defined alpha?
>>
> The last table lists all the largest clusters for each iteration,
> regardless of its p.  The second table is what you want.
>> "3. Find clusters in the Real T-Map file." This must be the upper list
>> of
>> clusters (containing much less rows than the lower one)
>>
> Correct.  That link above shows this the best.
>> "4. Report all clusters in Real T-Map file that are larger than
>> Significant Cluster Cutoff." This is the list of T-Values below this
>> list,
>> containing only clusters that are bigger than the cluster with the
>> highest
>> P-Value found in 2. that pass the alpha and T-Value thresholds I
>> specified
>> in "caret_command-metric-statistics-one-sample-t-test".
>>
> Again, here is the relevant excerpt from the link above:
>
> Significant Area:    306.226 <--- area of smallest cluster listed in next
> section
>
> Shuffled TMap <--- Top alpha*iterations biggest clusters are listed below,
> in descending area-corrected sequence.
> (i.e., the smallest of which determines the signifiance area cut-off)
> -------------
> Column    Thresh  Num-Nodes          Area  Area-Corrected     COG-X
> COG-Y     COG-Z   P-Value
>    821     2.660       2300   1439.637207     1559.143188   -37.249
> 0.007    -3.456
>    150     2.660        792    598.519104      858.216492   -49.142
> -32.369    11.918
>    548     2.660       1380    641.563843      643.790466   -35.004
> 2.519   -14.981
> ... (middle biggest alpha*iterations entries omitted)
>    681    -2.660        279    249.739059      312.872681   -48.189
> -9.576    10.352
>    649     2.660        237    198.468857      311.602844   -16.170
> -79.223    30.149
>    633    -2.660        217    119.337837      306.226257   -42.479
> -48.846    41.505
>
>
> TMap <--- Significant real tmap clusters (i.e., >= significant area) are
> listed here; no entries here means no clusters were significant.
> ----
> Column    Thresh  Num-Nodes          Area  Area-Corrected     COG-X
> COG-Y     COG-Z   P-Value
>      3     2.660        344    229.353973      362.322113   -45.677
> -27.442    18.039  0.029000
>
> Shuffled TMap <--- All iterations max clusters are listed below, in
> descending area-corrected sequence.
> -------------
> Column    Thresh  Num-Nodes          Area  Area-Corrected     COG-X
> COG-Y     COG-Z   P-Value
>    821     2.660       2300   1439.637207     1559.143188   -37.249
> 0.007    -3.456
>    150     2.660        792    598.519104      858.216492   -49.142
> -32.369    11.918
>    548     2.660       1380    641.563843      643.790466   -35.004
> 2.519   -14.981
> ... (middle biggest alpha*iterations entries omitted)
>      3     2.660          1      0.475079        0.472114   -18.520
> -24.418   -21.858  0.999000
>      3    -2.660          1      0.474738        0.456814   -21.478
> -36.579   -17.077  0.999000
>      3     2.660          1      0.000000        0.000000    -6.822
> -46.751     8.581  0.999000
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> 4. T-Map_LH_cCue_EndoL_vs_Cue_ExoL.metric_TMapClusters.metric
>> Is this the map of clusters defined above?
>>
> This is what I believe you thought xx.metric_TMap.metric was, but it is
> unthresholded.
>
> This TMapClusters one zeroes out all nodes that are NOT within a
> significant cluster.
>> I'm sorry, I know these are a many questions. Thanks a lot for your
>> help!
>>
>> Julia
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Julia,
>>> I looked at your report and your t-map, which is consistent with the
>>>
>> caret_command -metric-information output you included below.
>>
>>> Just making sure you understand this part of the report:
>>> TMap
>>> ----
>>> Column    Thresh  Num-Nodes          Area  Area-Corrected     COG-X
>>>
>> COG-Y     COG-Z   P-
>>
>>> Value
>>>      1     2.500       3064   2223.228027     2245.943848   -30.317
>>> -73.796   -12.228  0.0
>>> 12000
>>>      1     2.500       3372   1865.999878     1863.883423   -21.516
>>> -62.842    46.382  0.0
>>> 17000
>>>      1     2.500       1557    681.308838      674.981384   -32.967
>>> -5.873    48.701  0.0
>>> 59000
>>> These are the clusters in your real t-map that were significant at the
>>>
>> 0.1
>>
>>> alpha you specified, using the 2.5 threshold.  (Note that all the
>>>
>> significant clusters were at the positive end.)
>>
>>> I believe the reason you saw different max/min in the Caret GUI was
>>> that
>>>
>> you had the permuted t-map loaded, instead of the real one.  In your
>> message below, you said, "Adjustment:Column: permuted T-Values,Threshold
>> type".  There is nothing about permuted in the file you uploaded.  If
>> you
>>
>>> were viewing the permuted/shuffled t-map, this would also explain why
>>>
>> little would survive a low threshold.
>>
>>> But we don't necessarily (or even usually) use the same values we used
>>>
>> for
>>
>>> cluster thresholds as the threshold for displaying t-maps, e.g., for
>>>
>> publication purposes.  I think we like to see some color differentiation
>> beyond the cluster threshold max.  If they are the same, the color will
>> saturate at the max.  Sometimes we'll use a p-value derived from the
>> degrees of freedom and get a corresponding t-value from that, and use
>> that
>>
>>> for thresholding.  Other times we might just use, say, +/-4.0 or
>>> higher,
>>>
>> depending on how big the values get in the data.  Usually we'll use a
>> symmetric scale (i.e., -x to +x -- rather than different min/max). Donna
>>
>>> On 08/11/2010 09:12 AM, Julia Bender wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Donna,
>>>> I've just uploaded the two files.
>>>> Thanks for your help!
>>>> Julia
>>>>
>>>>> Julia,
>>>>> It will be easier for me to get my head around your question if I can
>>>>>
>> get two files:
>>
>>>>> * T-Map_LH_cCue_Endo.metric_TMap.metric (whatever the final output
>>>>>
>> metric was, but NOT the permuted/shuffled tmap file).
>>
>>>>> * The report named something like *Signicance*.txt
>>>>> Could you upload those here:
>>>>> http://pulvinar.wustl.edu/cgi-bin/upload.cgi
>>>>> My brain would be ever so grateful.
>>>>> Donna
>>>>> On 08/11/2010 07:07 AM, Julia Bender wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey everyone,
>>>>>> I'm a bit confused about how to threshold my T-Maps in caret5. I
>>>>>>
>> created
>>
>>>>>> the maps with the following command:
>>>>>> /usr/local/caret/bin_linux/caret_command
>>>>>> -metric-statistics-one-sample-t-test $EACHMETRIC $FIDUCIAL_COORD
>>>>>>
>> $OPEN_TOPO $SURFACE_SHAPE 3 T-Map_$EACHMETRIC -300000.0 2.5 0.10 10 1
>> 1000
>>
>>>>>> 0 4
>>>>>> So I put the negative threshold to -300000 and the positive
>>>>>> threshold
>>>>>>
>> to
>>
>>>>>> 2.5. When I look at the resulting Tmap.metric files it gives me
>>>>>>
>> something
>>
>>>>>> like this:
>>>>>> Filename: T-Map_LH_cCue_Endo.metric_TMap.metric
>>>>>> Number of Nodes: 73730
>>>>>> Number of Columns: 1
>>>>>> Column      Minimum      Maximum           Mean     Sample Dev     %
>>>>>>
>> Positive     % Negative   Column Name
>>
>>>>>>      1       -9.785        6.076         -0.950          2.639
>>>>>> 36.234         63.766   T-Values
>>>>>> As far as I understand, this means the maximum negative T value in
>>>>>>
>> this
>>
>>>>>> metric is -9.785 and the maximum positive T value is 6.076. When I
>>>>>>
>> open
>>
>>>>>> the file in caret though (Color mapping: Auto Scale, Display mode:
>>>>>>
>> Both,
>>
>>>>>> Display Color Bar, Threshold Adjustment:Column: permuted
>>>>>> T-Values,Threshold type: Column) the bar tells me that my maximum
>>>>>>
>> negative
>>
>>>>>> value is -3.7 and my maximum positive value is 2.6. This also holds
>>>>>>
>> when
>>
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> adjust the thresholds in the fields below to -2 and 2, when almost
>>>>>>
>> all
>>
>>>>>> activation disappears.
>>>>>> Which is the correct information?
>>>>>> Thanks a lot for your help!
>>>>>> Julia
>>>>>> Dipl. Psych. Julia Bender
>>>>>> Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
>>>>>> Mathematisch - Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II
>>>>>> Institut für Psychologie, Abt. Klinische Psychologie
>>>>>> Unter den Linden 6
>>>>>> D-10099 Berlin
>>>>>>
>
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>


Dipl. Psych. Julia Bender
Humboldt Universit�t zu Berlin
Mathematisch - Naturwissenschaftliche Fakult�t II
Institut f�r Psychologie, Abt. Klinische Psychologie
Unter den Linden 6
D-10099 Berlin

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