Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Neuroimage. 2013 Jun;73:30-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.01.068. Epub 2013 Feb 9.
Neuroimaging results are typically graphically rendered and color-coded, which influences the process of knowledge generation within neuroscience as well as the public perception of brain research. Analyzing these issues requires empirical information on the display practice in neuroimaging. In our study we evaluated more than 9000 functional images (fMRI and PET) published between 1996 and 2009 with respect to the use of color, image structure, image production software and other factors that may determine the display practice. We demonstrate a variety of display styles despite a remarkable dominance of few image production sites and software systems, outline some tendencies of standardization, and identify shortcomings with respect to color scale explication in neuroimages. We discuss the importance of the finding for knowledge production in neuroimaging, and we make suggestions to improve the display practice in neuroimaging, especially on regimes of color coding.
神经影像学的结果通常以图形的方式呈现，并进行颜色编码，这影响了神经科学领域内知识的产生过程，也影响了公众对大脑研究的看法。分析这些问题需要有关神经影像学中显示实践的经验信息。在我们的研究中，我们评估了 1996 年至 2009 年间发表的超过 9000 张功能图像（fMRI 和 PET），评估的内容涉及颜色使用、图像结构、图像制作软件以及其他可能决定显示实践的因素。尽管少数图像制作网站和软件系统占据主导地位，但我们展示了各种显示风格，概述了一些标准化的趋势，并确定了神经图像中颜色比例说明方面的不足。我们讨论了这一发现对神经影像学知识产生的重要性，并就改进神经影像学的显示实践提出了建议，特别是在颜色编码方面。
