Graphical display of fMRI data: visualizing multidimensional space

Visualization of multidimensional data is an integral part of computational statistics and exploratory data analysis (EDA). We show how visualization of fMRI time-courses may be used to reveal the fMRI data structure. We consider fMRI time-courses (TCs) as points in multidimensional space. In simulated and in vivo data, we show that minimum spanning tree (MST)-based sequencing of multivariate time-courses, in combination with a homogeneity map visualization, allows for effective and useful graphical display of the groups of coactivated time-courses obtained by temporal clustering. This display may serve as a tool for investigation of brain connectivity. We also suggest a simple overall display of the entire fMRI data set.