Animal whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a non-invasive window into brain activity. A collection of associated methods aims to replicate observations made in humans and to identify the mechanisms underlying the distributed neuronal activity in the healthy and disordered brain. Animal fMRI studies have developed rapidly over the past years, fueled by the development of resting-state fMRI connectivity and genetically encoded neuromodulatory tools. Yet, comparisons between sites remain hampered by lack of standardization. Recently, we highlighted that mouse resting-state functional connectivity converges across centers, although large discrepancies in sensitivity and specificity remained. Here, we explore past and present trends within the animal fMRI community and highlight critical aspects in study design, data acquisition, and post-processing operations, that may affect the results and influence the comparability between studies. We also suggest practices aimed to promote the adoption of standards within the community and improve between-lab reproducibility. The implementation of standardized animal neuroimaging protocols will facilitate animal population imaging efforts as well as meta-analysis and replication studies, the gold standards in evidence-based science.

中文翻译：

---

动物功能磁共振成像：趋势和标准化之路

动物全脑功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 提供了了解大脑活动的非侵入性窗口。一系列相关方法旨在复制在人类中进行的观察，并确定健康和紊乱大脑中分布式神经元活动的机制。在静息态功能磁共振成像连接和基因编码神经调节工具的发展推动下，动物功能磁共振成像研究在过去几年中发展迅速。然而，由于缺乏标准化，网站之间的比较仍然受到阻碍。最近，我们强调，尽管敏感性和特异性仍然存在巨大差异，但小鼠静息态功能连接在各个中心之间趋同。在这里，我们探讨了动物功能磁共振成像领域过去和现在的趋势，并强调了研究设计、数据采集和后处理操作中可能影响结果和研究之间可比性的关键方面。我们还建议旨在促进社区内标准采用并提高实验室间可重复性的实践。标准化动物神经成像方案的实施将促进动物群体成像工作以及荟萃分析和复制研究，这是循证科学的黄金标准。