[Mne_analysis] DecMeg2014 competition: decoding the human brain

[Emanuele Olivetti]

DecMeg2014: decoding the human brain

Biomag 2014 Decoding Challenge - Brain Decoding Across Subjects

   https://www.kaggle.com/c/decoding-the-human-brain

Decoding mental states from functional neuroimaging data is a data
analysis paradigm adopted both in neuroscience studies and in
brain-computer interface applications. Decoding means determining,
from the recorded brain activity, what stimulus was provided to a
subject. In this competition, a large number of trials, from a face
vs. scrambled face visual task, are available from multiple
subjects. The brain activity was recorded by means of
magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG recordings from various subjects and
the category of the associated visual stimuli are given to the
participants of the competition in order to train their prediction
algorithms. With their algorithms, the participants will have to
predict the category of the stimulus of a different set of MEG
recordings, from other subjects. Each submission to the competition
will be scored according to the accuracy of prediction. Decoding
across subjects is a difficult task because of the variability in head
shape, cortical folding and functional organisation. For MEG data, the
literature on decoding across subjects is still in early stages and
this competition aims at raising the awareness about this complex
scientific problem.

This competition is associated with the the 19th International
Conference on Biomagnetism, Biomag 2014, Halifax (Canada), August
24-28, 2014.

The competition begins: April 21st, 2014.
The competition ends: July 27th, 2014.
Prizes: 1st 3,000 USD,  2nd 1,500 USD, 3rd 500 USD.

Organizers: Emanuele Olivetti, Seyed Mostafa Kia and Paolo Avesani
(NeuroInformatics Lab, Bruno Kessler Foundation and University of
Trento, IT), e-mail: decmeg2014 at list.fbk.eu .

Scientific steering committee: Ole Jensen (Donders Institute, NL),
Nathan Weisz (University of Trento, IT), Richard Henson (MRC/CBU, UK)
and Alexandre Gramfort (Telecom ParisTech, CNRS, CEA / Neurospin). We
would also like to thank Daniel Wakeman (Martinos Center, MGH, USA).

The awards for this competition are funded by Elekta Oy, MEG
International Services Ltd (MISL), Fondazione Bruno Kessler and Besa
Gmbh.

Relevant links:
- competition website: https://www.kaggle.com/c/decoding-the-human-brain
- Biomag 2014: http://www.biomag2014.org
- NeuroInformatics Lab: http://nilab.fbk.eu
- Elekta Oy: http://www.elekta.com
- MISL (CTF MEG): http://www.ctfmeg.com
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler: http://www.fbk.eu
- Besa GmbH: http://www.besa.de

Please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues or
contacts who might be interested in this competition.