Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

This example provides a single example for a ROI-based method of analyzing diffusion tensor imaging data using FSL, TORTOISE, and AFNI.

Remember: there are many ways to analyze DTI data that may be better suited to your needs. This is just one example.

Prior to beginning this analysis, you will need to install FSL, TORTOISE, and AFNI on your computer. These programs can be downloaded on the following sites:

We also assume you are familiar with UNIX or shell scripting. If not, visit AFNI's Unix Tutorial before beginning this analysis.

You can follow along with our analysis steps using our example dataset. If you do not wish to use the example dataset, be certain to change the names of the files in the below examples to correspond to the dataset you are using.

Note that this example is for a single subject and a single ROI, so we provide specific commands to run rather than a script for processing multiple subjects. It would be helpful to create your own script using these commands for use with multiple subjects and ROIs.