mne_morph_labels

Overview

mne_morph_labels morphs cortical label files from one subject's surface to another using the FreeSurfer spherical registration. This enables transferring ROI definitions across subjects for group analysis.

This is a C++ port of the original MNE-C tool by Matti Hämäläinen.

Usage

mne_morph_labels [options]

Options

Option	Description
--from <subject>	Source subject name
--to <subject>	Destination subject name
--subjects_dir <dir>	Subjects directory (default: $SUBJECTS_DIR)
--hemi <hemi>	Hemisphere: lh or rh
--label <file>	Input label file
--out <file>	Output morphed label file
--help	Print help
--version	Print version

Description

The tool maps vertex coordinates from one subject's spherical surface registration to another's, effectively transferring cortical labels (ROIs) between subjects. This relies on the FreeSurfer ?h.sphere.reg surfaces.

Workflow Context

Label morphing is used in group analysis workflows:

1. Define labels on one subject or on fsaverage → mne_annot2labels or FreeSurfer tools
2. Morph labels to each subject → mne_morph_labels
3. Use subject-specific labels for ROI analysis → mne_compute_mne

This requires that the FreeSurfer spherical registration (?h.sphere.reg) is available for both subjects.

Example

# Morph a label from fsaverage to subject sam
mne_morph_labels --from fsaverage --to sam --hemi lh --label V1.label --out sam-V1.label