AUTHOR=Rousselet Guillaume A., Pernet Cyril R.

TITLE=Improving standards in brain-behavior correlation analyses

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2012

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00119

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2012.00119

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=Associations between two variables, for instance between brain and behavioural measurements, are often studied using Pearson correlation. However, Pearson correlation is not robust: outliers can introduce false correlations or mask existing ones. These problems are exacerbated in brain imaging by a widespread lack of control for multiple comparisons, and several issues with data interpretations. We illustrate these important problems associated with brain-behaviour correlations, drawing examples from published articles in mainstream high-impact and specialty journals. We make several propositions to alleviate these problems.