Comparing the carbon footprint of fMRI data processing and analysis approaches
We compared the carbon emissions of preprocessing and statistical analysis of fMRI data in software packages FSL, SPM, and fMRIPrep using an existing open access dataset. Carbon emissions for fMRIPrep were 30x larger than those of FSL, and 23x those of SPM. We also compared the scientific performance of each package, reflected by sensitivity to statistical activation. Overall, fMRIPrep demonstrated slightly superior statistical sensitivity to both FSL and SPM, with FSL also outperforming SPM. However, this pattern varied by brain region. Researchers analysing fMRI data can use these findings to inform their choice of software package, considering the carbon footprint of data processing alongside usability and quality of derived output. Researchers should be conscious of how and when tools that elicit heavy compute are used, minimising energy usage and subsequent file size when possible. Researchers developing and using such tools should consider the extent to which computationally expensive steps are necessary to produce high-quality results.
Authors
- Gabrielle Samuel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8111-2730)
- R. D. Wilkinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3908-7313)
- Charlotte L. Rae (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4503-4971)
- Nikhil Bhagwat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6073-7141)
- Loïc Lannelongue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9135-1345)
- Raghavendra Selvan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4302-0207)
- Chris Racey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7081-8260)
- Niall W. Duncan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3225-9119)
- Nicholas E. Souter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0999-1811)
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- British Heart Foundation (GB)
- Health Data Research UK (GB)
- Taipei Medical University (TW)
- McGill University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Imaging Neuroscience
- Published
- 2025-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1162/imag.a.36
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.60
Funders
- Scottish Government
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- British Heart Foundation
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Public Health Agency
- Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate
- Medical Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Health and Social Care Research and Development Division
- NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre