Manual Talairach Normalization in AFNI

Back in olden times, before the invention of modern devices such as computers and slap bracelets, brain researchers relied on standard coordinate systems as a guide to brain anatomy. One of the most enduringly popular of these was the Talairach coordinate system, based on the brain of a deceased elderly Frenchwoman; the origin of this space was located at the anterior commissure, and both the anterior and posterior commissures were then set on an even plane. Other brains could then be similarly oriented, warped, squashed, stretched, and subject to varied forms of torture and abuse until they roughly matched the Frenchwoman's.

These days, we have computer algorithms to do that for us; and although all of the leading FMRI packages have tools to perform these transformations automatically, there are still ways to do it by hand with AFNI. The following tutorial video shows you how to do it in excruciating detail, including how to locate the AC/PC line with ease, how to find the mysterious "Define Markers" button, and why the Big Talairach Box should be checked - no matter what.

Experience the way they used to do it, either out of a desire for nostalgia or masochism. The video is rather long (I try to keep them bite-sized, delicious, and under five minutes), but long procedures require long demonstrations; if nothing else, you may find the nascent stirrings of intimacy you begin to experience with your data a satisfying surrogate for the painful void of intimacy in your own life.