Human Connectome Project (HCP) Releases First Quarter of Data

March 5, 2013

 

The Human Connectome Project (HCP) WU-Minn consortium is pleased to announce
the HCP Q1 Release, our first quarterly release of HCP image and behavioral
data.  

 

Should I be interested in the HCP Q1 data release?  The HCP aims to study
400 subjects per year, with a target of 1,200 subjects studied before the
grant ends in 2015.  Subjects from families with twins and non-twin siblings
are being scanned on the same scanner using the same protocol for every
subject.  Data will be released quarterly, starting with the current Q1
release. 

 

The Q1 data release is limited in terms of the number of subjects
extensively scanned (68 vs the eventual target of 1,200 subjects), the
amount of highly processed data that is available, and the data mining
capabilities currently implemented.  Consequently, we anticipate that the Q1
data release will be of particular interest to investigators who are
prepared to apply their own neuroimaging analysis tools to this 'starter
kit' of imaging data - especially by using the 'minimally preprocessed'
datasets described below.  Investigators interested in extensively processed
data can access a 20-subject group-average dataset that includes multiple
modalities.   

 

What's in the HCP Q1 data release? The Q1 data include high-resolution MR
scans from 68 healthy adults and four imaging modalities: structural images
(T1w and T2w), resting-state fMRI (rfMRI), task-fMRI (tfMRI), and high
angular resolution diffusion imaging (dMRI). Some of the behavioral data
acquired from each subject is also available. 

 

Family status and other potentially sensitive information are part of the
Restricted Access data is available only to qualified investigators (see
below).  To enable investigators to analyze data without being concerned
about family structure issues, we have prepackaged groups of 5 and of 20
unrelated subjects for download.

 

Multiple levels of data processing. The Q1 imaging data includes
"unprocessed" data (in NIFTI format) plus "minimally preprocessed" datasets.
We encourage investigators to use the preprocessed datasets, in which
spatial distortions have been minimized and data have been aligned across
modalities and across subjects. The methods used for this preprocessing were
implemented by the HCP consortium through an intensive two-year refinement
and optimization process.  If your specific research interests make it
important to use the unprocessed data, it is critical to be aware of that
the HCP unprocessed images for ALL modalities contain unusually large
gradient and it is important to correct for the spatial distortions they
cause (see details in the HCP Q1 Data Release Reference Manual
<http://humanconnectome.org/documentation/Q1/> ).

 

The preprocessed structural datasets include cortical surfaces, myelin maps,
and other data that are suitable for a variety of morphometric analyses.  In
addition, the HCP has analyzed resting-state fMRI and task-fMRI data on the
group of 20 unrelated Q1 subjects.  The Q1 data release includes
demonstration datasets based on group-average functional connectivity and
task-fMRI.  The extensively processed data for the individual subjects used
in this analysis are not being released at this time because key methods are
still being evaluated and refined (e.g., temporal preprocessing, denoising,
and correcting for residual motion artifacts).

 

Access Q1 data on the HCP website. Explore, download, or order the entire
HCP Q1 dataset <http://humanconnectome.org/data/>  (~2TB of data!) via the
ConnectomeDB database. Most HCP image and behavioral data is open access to
investigators worldwide who register and accept a limited set of Open Access
Data Use Terms
<http://humanconnectome.org/documentation/data-release/DataUseTerms-HCP-Open
-Access-15Feb2013.pdf> . Sensitive behavioral, demographic, and family
structure data is available to qualified researchers who apply for
Restricted Data Access
<http://humanconnectome.org/documentation/connectomeDB/access/restricted-acc
ess-data.html> .

 

Want more information?  The HCP Q1 Data Release Reference Manual
<http://humanconnectome.org/documentation/Q1/>  provides comprehensive
information that includes details on imaging protocols, behavioral measures,
and information that will help users obtain and analyze the Q1 data.

 

For a broad overview, read our Press Release on the HCP Q1 data release
<http://humanconnectome.org/about/pressroom/press-releases/human-connectome-
project-releases-major-dataset-brain-connectivity/> . 

 

If you know colleagues who may be interested in this information, please
feel free to forward them this email; also, encourage them to join the
hcp-users list at
http://lists.humanconnectome.org/mailman/listinfo/hcp-users

 

Best,

The WU-Minn HCP Consortium

 

 

Jennifer Elam, Ph.D.
Outreach Coordinator, Human Connectome Project
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Box 8108
660 South Euclid Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
 <tel:314-362-9387> 314-362-9387
 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
 <http://www.humanconnectome.org> www.humanconnectome.org

 


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