BIDS derivatives - current status of spaces/mapping metadata

,
1

Hi all,

I’m working on scripts for analyzing BIDS-formatted fMRI data. I would like to keep the outputs consistent with upcoming BIDS releases (incorporating derivatives extensions), and am trying to figure out which metadata fields I should specify relating to spaces/atlases.

Based on my understanding from documentation online, BIDS 1.4.0 has a SpatialReference field, specifying an atlas or reference image. The working copy of the BEP014 suggests that this information will be in two fields, ReferenceMap and NonstandardReference, depending on whether the reference is standard.

A few questions, for @oesteban or whoever is aware -

  1. Will ReferenceMap and NonstandardReference supersede SpatialReference, or will the latter still be used for anything?

  2. I frequently analyze data in a functional template space defined per individual subject - i.e., one functional image that all runs/tasks for a given participant are registered to. Has there been any consideration of adding dedicated “space” labels for such functional template spaces, along the lines of the “individual” or “fsnative” labels for individual anatomical spaces?

Thanks!

2

Hi @bdeen I haven’t looked at BEP014 in a bit, but BIDS 1.4.0 has been updated much more recently, so it is likely that BEP014 needs to be updated with the final version of common derivatives, and not that BEP014 will replace common derivatives conventions.

BIDS must be backwards compatible throughout all BIDS 1.x releases, to avoid a release rendering valid datasets invalid.

WRT custom spaces, I believe that any name is acceptable as long as it is a known template OR has SpatialReference defined, though you should check the spec to be sure.

1 Like