Consistent activation differences versus differences in consistent activation: Evaluating meta-analytic contrasts

Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 2

Abstract

Meta-analytic contrasts are a promising aspect of coordinate-based meta-analyses in neuroimaging research as they facilitate the statistical comparison of two meta-analytic results. They have been used for a multitude of comparisons, such as task conditions, cognitive processes, and groups. However, it remains to be tested how the results of meta-analytic contrasts relate to those of classic meta-analyses and vice versa. Here, we present a comprehensive empirical investigation of this issue using four datasets from different cognitive domains: working memory, working memory load, cognitive interference processing, and emotional face processing. For all four datasets, we compared the results of a standard meta-analysis across prototypical contrasts (condition A > condition B) reported in individual experiments with those of a contrast between two individual meta-analyses of the same conditions (meta-analysis condition A > meta-analysis condition B). In the meta-analytic contrasts, similar brain regions as in the standard meta-analysis were found but with relatively distinct spatial activation patterns. Additionally, fewer regions were revealed in the meta-analytic contrasts, especially in areas where the conditions spatially overlapped. This can be ascribed to the loss of information on the strength of activations in meta-analytic contrasts, across which standard meta-analysis summarize. In one dataset, additional regions were found in the meta-analytic contrast, potentially due to task effects. Our results demonstrate that meta-analytic contrasts can yield similar results to standard meta-analyses but are sparser. This confirms the overall validity, but also limited ability to capture all regions found in standard meta-analyses. Notable differences observed in some cases indicate that such contrasts cannot be taken as an easy substitute for classic meta-analyses of experiment-level contrasts, warranting further research into the boundary conditions for agreement.

Authors 7

1. Vincent Küppers

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · University of Cologne · University Hospital Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital and Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

2. Edna C. Cieslik

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Düsseldorf University Hospital · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

3. Lennart Frahm Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics School of Medicine

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

4. Felix Hoffstaedter

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Düsseldorf University Hospital · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

5. Simon Bodo Eickhoff

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Düsseldorf University Hospital · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

6. Robert Langner

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Düsseldorf University Hospital · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

7. Veronika I. Müller

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Düsseldorf University Hospital · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany