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How to establish robust brain–behavior relationships without thousands of individuals

Nature Neuroscience volume 25, pages 835–837 (2022)Cite this article

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Can studying individual differences in brain structure and function reveal individual differences in behavior? Analyses of MRI data from nearly 50,000 individuals may suggest that the possibility is fleeting. Although sample size is important for brain-based prediction, researchers can take other steps to build better biomarkers. These include testing model generalizability across people, datasets, and time points and maximizing model robustness by optimizing brain data acquisition, behavioral measures, and prediction approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Monica D. Rosenberg

  2. Neuroscience Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Monica D. Rosenberg

  3. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

    Emily S. Finn

Authors
  1. Monica D. Rosenberg
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  2. Emily S. Finn
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Correspondence to Monica D. Rosenberg or Emily S. Finn.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rosenberg, M.D., Finn, E.S. How to establish robust brain–behavior relationships without thousands of individuals. Nat Neurosci 25, 835–837 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01110-9

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