[Eeglablist] Open collaboration project: Multi-model Anatomical Grouping of Independent Components (MMAGIC)

Wed Sep 16 16:18:52 PDT 2026

Hi Sarvenaz,

Thank you for your message! I’m very glad to connect with you and would be
happy to collaborate on the project.

I think your experience with EEG/ERP data, validation, and statistical
evaluation could be very valuable for the project, and I’m looking forward
to working together.

Best,
Marjan

On Thu, 17 Sept 2026, 02:19 Sarvenaz Changizi via eeglablist, <
eeglablist at sccn.ucsd.edu> wrote:

> Dear Makoto,
>
>
>
> Thank you very much for your detailed, clear, and encouraging response.
> The project sounds genuinely fascinating, and I would be very happy to
> contribute as an alpha user by applying the developed method to empirical
> EEG data, evaluating its outputs, and providing feedback throughout the
> development process. I would also be glad to contribute to the validation,
> interpretation, documentation, and manuscript preparation wherever useful.
>
>
>
> I have previous experience working with and contributing to the analysis
> of EEG/ERP data using EEGLAB. My research also involves designing
> experimental psychology tasks, and I am quite familiar with Python and
> programming-oriented research workflows. Therefore, I would be very
> interested in expanding my knowledge of the relevant dipole and distributed
> source models and engaging with the technical aspects of the project.
>
>
>
> It was also a lovely surprise to hear that Marjan is based in Tehran—I am
> Iranian and originally from Tehran as well! So, although I would be joining
> from Valencia, the team would actually be gaining another Tehran
> connection. :) I imagine that this shared background could make it
> especially easy and enjoyable for Marjan and me to communicate and
> collaborate.
>
>
>
> Could you please let me know what the best next step would be? Is there
> already a separate mailing list, group, shared repository, or communication
> channel for the collaborators? I would be very happy if you could connect
> me with Marjan—perhaps by copying us both on an introductory email—and let
> me know how the team plans to coordinate the work.
>
>
>
> Thank you again for taking the time to answer all my questions so
> thoroughly. I am genuinely excited about the possibility of joining the
> collaboration and contributing to the project.
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
> Sarvenaz
>
>
>
>
>
> >
> > On 16 Sep 2026, at 17:32, Makoto Miyakoshi via eeglablist <
> eeglablist at sccn.ucsd.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Sarvenaz,
> >
> > Thank you for your questions. Here are my answers. Psychology/cognitive
> > science research skills would not be very helpful in the core development
> > phase. It's rather engineering focused. But you can be an alpha user,
> > applying the developed method to empirical data, which deserves
> authorship.
> >
> >   -
> >
> >   What specific tasks and priorities do you currently envisage,
> especially
> >   for contributors working on empirical validation and statistical
> evaluation?
> >
> > We will develop a Matlab application that takes .set data as inputs and
> > some figures and numbers as outputs. The core function may only take
> > EEG.icawinv and EEG.chanlocs.
> >
> >   -
> >
> >   Would validation involve datasets and analysis pipelines provided by
> the
> >   team, public datasets, or contributors’ own data?
> >
> > Validation using empirical EEG data datasets would be nice but not
> > mandatory.
> >
> >   -
> >
> >   What technical background would you expect for these contributions, and
> >   which tools and source-localization workflows would be used?
> >
> > Knowledge of what ICA does and how it works, current dipole models and
> > various distributed source models. Experience in coding in Matlab and
> using
> > your favorite AI tools.
> >
> >   -
> >
> >   How would the collaboration be coordinated, and what timeline and time
> >   commitment do you anticipate? I am based in Valencia and would be
> >   interested in collaborating remotely.
> >
> > Email and Zoom. No timeline unless Marjan has one. Location wise, I'm in
> > Cincinnati, Ohio. Marjan is in Tehran. Cedric is in California. Joining
> > from Valencia would be nice!
> >
> >   -
> >
> >   What outputs are you aiming for, such as a software release or
> >   methodological paper, and how do you envisage contributor credit and
> >   authorship?
> >
> > A paper and a Matlab application. The order of the authors is Marjan,
> > Cedric, ...., Ilaria, Makoto, unless Marjan decides not to take the
> first.
> > My assumption is that Marjan takes the lead. We aim for NeuroImage, Human
> > Brain Mapping, Imaging Neuroscience, European Journal of Neuroscience,
> > Journal of Neuroscience Method, Frontiers in things, etc.. If you know
> any
> > other good EEG methodology journals, please let me know. Maybe IEEE also
> > works.
> >
> > The application could be transplanted to Python if someone is interested
> in
> > taking the lead.
> >
> > Makoto
> >
> >
> >> On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 8:54 PM Sarvenaz Changizi <
> >> sarvenaz.changizi at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> Dear Makoto,
> >>
> >> Thank you for sharing this invitation. Your proposal to use anatomical
> ROI
> >> membership as a common framework across subjects and source-localization
> >> methods sounds very interesting, and I would like to explore the
> >> possibility of contributing.
> >>
> >> I am a PhD candidate in psychology at the Universitat de València,
> Spain,
> >> based at ERI-Lectura. My research focuses on reading, visual word
> >> recognition, and psycholinguistics, and involves experimental design and
> >> statistical modeling. I also have hands-on experience with EEG/ERP data
> >> acquisition and have contributed to data analysis using EEGLAB in two
> >> research projects.
> >>
> >> Areas where I could contribute include empirical validation using
> EEG/ERP
> >> data, methodological input on validation design, statistical evaluation
> and
> >> comparison of results across approaches, and scientific interpretation,
> >> documentation, and manuscript preparation.
> >>
> >> Could you please share more about what you have in mind for the
> >> collaboration? In particular, I would appreciate clarification on the
> >> following:
> >>
> >>   -
> >>
> >>   What specific tasks and priorities do you currently envisage,
> >>   especially for contributors working on empirical validation and
> statistical
> >>   evaluation?
> >>   -
> >>
> >>   Would validation involve datasets and analysis pipelines provided by
> >>   the team, public datasets, or contributors’ own data?
> >>   -
> >>
> >>   What technical background would you expect for these contributions,
> >>   and which tools and source-localization workflows would be used?
> >>   -
> >>
> >>   How would the collaboration be coordinated, and what timeline and time
> >>   commitment do you anticipate? I am based in Valencia and would be
> >>   interested in collaborating remotely.
> >>   -
> >>
> >>   What outputs are you aiming for, such as a software release or
> >>   methodological paper, and how do you envisage contributor credit and
> >>   authorship?
> >>
> >> I would be happy to share my CV and discuss where my background could be
> >> most useful to the project.
> >>
> >>
> >> Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing more about your
> plans.
> >>
> >>
> >> Best wishes,
> >> Sarvenaz Changizi
> >>
> >>
> >> PhD Candidate in Psychology
> >> ERI-Lectura, Universitat de València
> >> Valencia, Spain
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 16 Sep 2026, at 00:02, Makoto Miyakoshi via eeglablist <
> >> eeglablist at sccn.ucsd.edu> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Marjan and list,
> >>
> >> I'd like to propose a small open collaboration project.
> >>
> >> The idea is that we want to use anatomical ROI membership as a common
> >> coordinate across subjects, instead of relying on conventional IC
> >> clustering approach in EEGLAB STUDY. In the proposed approach, users
> >> specify an anatomical ROI, optionally with a distance tolerance, and ICs
> >> whose source models fall within that region are collected across
> subjects.
> >> In this implementation, anatomical ROI membership replaces IC
> clustering as
> >> the cross-subject correspondence rule.
> >>
> >> Here is a prototype I originally developed for a project with Ilaria
> >> Berteletti, which uses standard current dipole models. Although we
> >> ultimately did not use it in that study, I can tell you it worked better
> >> than I thought.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/MakotoMiyakoshi/MMAGIC__;!!Mih3wA!AoKTTZuSu2CVqhzgmxuMpdjqVNFyIVR-LQZYBeLZwVRfqta0reT9bYiTM3uHevgACv2_Bf8HE91bDX8kg7QX9GoBaAI$
> >> <
> >>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/MakotoMiyakoshi/AnatomicalROIGroupICA__;!!Mih3wA!AoKTTZuSu2CVqhzgmxuMpdjqVNFyIVR-LQZYBeLZwVRfqta0reT9bYiTM3uHevgACv2_Bf8HE91bDX8kg7QXcKIZKQg$
> >>>
> >>
> >> I cleaned the implementation to publish here and tested it on real
> >> ICA/DIPFIT datasets; details are available in the repository.
> >>
> >> However, my recent work (under review) showed that more than 80% of the
> >> pre-qualified brain ICs by IC Label were localized deeper than
> >> physiologically plausible cortical source depths:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.23.26344529v2__;!!Mih3wA!AoKTTZuSu2CVqhzgmxuMpdjqVNFyIVR-LQZYBeLZwVRfqta0reT9bYiTM3uHevgACv2_Bf8HE91bDX8kg7QXDaIe1jw$
> >>
> >> So it's time to try different cortex-constrained source estimates such
> as
> >> MNE, the LORETA family, LCMV, or other methods. The results can then be
> >> compared within a common anatomical ROI space. Hence MMAGIC: Multi-model
> >> Anatomical Grouping of Independent Components.
> >>
> >> Marjan and I would like to develop this into a methodological/software
> >> project. If anyone is interested in contributing a source-localization
> >> method, atlas-mapping approach, validation with empirical data, or
> >> methodological idea, you are welcome to join us. Please let us know.
> >>
> >> Makoto
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
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