Over the next 3 years (2012-2015), the Human Connectome Project (HCP) will be scanning 1,200 healthy adult subjects on the same MRI scanner using the same protocol for every subject. Data is being released quarterly, starting with this Q1 release. Our goal is to map region-to-region structural and functional connections of the human brain: the "human connectome."
The Q1 data release consists of multimodal MRI data collected from 68 healthy young adults who were scanned in the fall of 2012. These include all 12 subjects from our Initial Data Release. All 3T MRI scan data is included: Structural, Functional (resting state and task) and Diffusion. Behavioral data collected on all subjects is also included, with the exception of sensitive restricted-access data.
The data are made available at two distinct levels of processing: unprocessed (defaced NIFTI) and minimally preprocessed. We strongly encourage use of the minimally preprocessed data. Full Q1 Release Documentation.
Our target number is 1,200 healthy adults, ages 22-35 (~100 scanned/quarter), whose race/ethnicity is representative of the US population. We are recruiting twins and their non-twin siblings in order to enable research on the variability and heritability of brain structure and connectivity.
HCP datasets are collected from each participant during a 2 day visit to Washington University that includes a demographic survey, behavioral tests, and up to 5 MRI scan sessions that include structural, functional (resting state and task) and diffusion imaging. We follow a Standard Operating Procedure for data collection and use the same Imaging Protocols for every participant.
Several types of data are available in this release:
Unprocessed NIFTI images for structural MRI, fMRI, dMRI
Open Access Data: Most HCP image and behavioral data is Open Access, freely available to users who register and accept a limited set of Open Access Data Use Terms.
Restricted Data: Sensitive behavioral, demographic, and family structure data is available to qualified researchers who apply for Restricted Data Access and additionally agree to separate, more stringent Restricted Data Use Terms.
The high-resolution image data collected on each HCP subject results in file sizes that are quite large (10-18 GB/subject, entire Q1 dataset ~2TB). Therefore, if you choose to obtain HCP data via download, you should be prepared to experience long download times and to devote an appropriately large amount of disk space to housing the data.
We recommend that groups of users at the same institution organize themselves to obtain a single copy of the Q1 data for local distribution (via joint purchase of "Connectome in a Box" or a single download).
Acceptance of HCP Open Access Data Use Terms is required for access to HCP image and most behavioral data. Users will be prompted to accept the Data Use Terms upon initial login for data access.
Access to potentially identifying data such as subject age, ethnicity and specific measures is restricted. Investigators who intend on using this data for their research must complete and return an application that includes the HCP Restricted Data Use Terms.
We are offering a variety of packaged downloads for groups of unrelated subjects. You can explore the full protocol before downloading with our online data archive.
