To improve the spatial correspondence mapping between subjects’ brains beyond Talairach or MNI space normalization, reconstructed cortices are aligned using curvature information reflecting the gyral/sulcal folding pattern. While functional areas do not precisely follow cortical landmarks, it has been shown that a cortical matching approach substantially improves statistical analysis across subjects by reducing anatomical variability (Fischl et al., 1999).
A detailed description of the cortex based alignment approach in BrainVoyager together with an example dataset can be found here in BrainVoyager Exercises section.
Cortex Based Alignment MTC GLM Exercise
Additional information is available in the BrainVoyager Users Guide.
References:
Fischl, B., Sereno, M. I., & Dale, A. M. (1999). Cortical Surface-Based Analysis: II: Inflation, Flattening, and a Surface-Based Coordinate System. NeuroImage, 9(2), 195–207.
Goebel, R., Staedtler, E., Munk, M.H.J., Muckli, L. (2002). Cortex-based alignment using functional and structural constraints. NeuroImage Supplement.
Goebel, R., Esposito, F. & Formisano, E. (2006). Analysis of functional image analysis contest (FIAC) data with Brainvoyager QX: From single-subject to cortically aligned group general linear model analysis and self-organizing group independent component analysis. Human Brain Mapping, 27, 392-401.
Frost, M. & Goebel, R. (2012). Measuring structural-functional correspondence: Spatial variability of specialised brain regions after macro-anatomical alignment. NeuroImage, 59, 1369-1381.