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NiMARE: Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis Research Environment

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Meta-Analytic Subtraction Analysis
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Meta-Analytic Subtraction Analysis

Notebook Cell
# First, import the necessary modules and functions
import os

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from myst_nb import glue
from nilearn import image, plotting
from repo2data.repo2data import Repo2Data

from nimare import dataset

# Install the data if running locally, or points to cached data if running on neurolibre
DATA_REQ_FILE = os.path.abspath("../binder/data_requirement.json")
repo2data = Repo2Data(DATA_REQ_FILE)
data_path = repo2data.install()
data_path = os.path.join(data_path[0], "data")

# Now, load the Datasets we will use in this chapter
sleuth_dset1 = dataset.Dataset.load(os.path.join(data_path, "sleuth_dset1.pkl.gz"))
sleuth_dset2 = dataset.Dataset.load(os.path.join(data_path, "sleuth_dset2.pkl.gz"))

Subtraction analysis refers to the voxel-wise comparison of two meta-analytic samples. In image-based meta-analysis, comparisons between groups of maps can generally be accomplished within the standard meta-regression framework (i.e., by adding a covariate that codes for group membership). However, coordinate-based subtraction analysis requires special extensions for CBMA algorithms.

Subtraction analysis to compare the results of two ALE meta-analyses was originally implemented by Laird et al. (2005) and later extended by Eickhoff et al. (2012). In this approach, two groups of experiments (A and B) are compared using a group assignment randomization procedure in which voxel-wise null distributions are generated by randomly reassigning experiments between the two groups and calculating ALE-difference scores for each permutation. Real ALE-difference scores (i.e., the ALE values for one group minus the ALE values for the other) are compared against these null distributions to determine voxel-wise significance. In the original implementation of the algorithm, this procedure is performed separately for a group A > B contrast and a group B > A contrast, where each contrast is limited to voxels that were significant in the first group’s original meta-analysis.

from nimare import meta

kern = meta.kernel.ALEKernel()
sub_meta = meta.cbma.ale.ALESubtraction(kernel_transformer=kern, n_iters=1000)
sub_results = sub_meta.fit(sleuth_dset1, sleuth_dset2)
Notebook Cell
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6, 2))
display = plotting.plot_stat_map(
    sub_results.get_map("z_desc-group1MinusGroup2", return_type="image"),
    annotate=False,
    axes=ax,
    cmap="RdBu_r",
    cut_coords=[0, 0, 0],
    draw_cross=False,
    figure=fig,
)
ax.set_title("ALE Subtraction")

colorbar = display._cbar
colorbar_ticks = colorbar.get_ticks()
if colorbar_ticks[0] < 0:
    new_ticks = [colorbar_ticks[0], 0, colorbar_ticks[-1]]
else:
    new_ticks = [colorbar_ticks[0], colorbar_ticks[-1]]
colorbar.set_ticks(new_ticks, update_ticks=True)
glue("figure_subtraction", fig, display=False)
/srv/conda/envs/notebook/lib/python3.7/site-packages/nilearn/plotting/img_plotting.py:348: FutureWarning: Default resolution of the MNI template will change from 2mm to 1mm in version 0.10.0
  anat_img = load_mni152_template()
<Figure size 600x200 with 5 Axes>
glue:figure - Unknown Directive
:name: figure_subtraction-notebook
:align: center

Unthresholded z-statistic map for the subtraction analysis of the two example Sleuth-based `Datasets`.

Alternatively, MKDA Chi-squared analysis is inherently a subtraction analysis method, in that it compares foci from two groups of studies. Generally, one of these groups is a sample of interest, while the other is a meta-analytic database (minus the studies in the sample). With this setup, meta-analysts can infer whether there is greater convergence of foci in a voxel as compared to the baseline across the field (as estimated with the meta-analytic database), much like SCALE. However, if the database is replaced with a second sample of interest, the analysis ends up comparing convergence between the two groups.

References
  1. Laird, A. R., Fox, P. M., Price, C. J., Glahn, D. C., Uecker, A. M., Lancaster, J. L., Turkeltaub, P. E., Kochunov, P., & Fox, P. T. (2005). ALE meta-analysis: controlling the false discovery rate and performing statistical contrasts. Hum. Brain Mapp., 25(1), 155–164.
  2. Eickhoff, S. B., Bzdok, D., Laird, A. R., Kurth, F., & Fox, P. T. (2012). Activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis revisited. Neuroimage, 59(3), 2349–2361.