30 Years of SPM: Celebrating the Evolution of Neuroimaging Analysis

Olivia Kowalczyk Organizer
King's College London / University College London
Department of Neuroimaging / Department of Imaging Neuroscience
London, London 
United Kingdom
 
Peter Zeidman Co Organizer
University College London
Department of Imaging Neuroscience
London, England 
United Kingdom
 
Friday, Jun 27: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
1337 
Roundtable 
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 
Room: M3 (Mezzanine Level) 
As Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025, this roundtable discussion will offer a critical examination of neuroimaging's methodological evolution. We will bring together key SPM developers, past and present, who will reflect on the significant innovations that SPM introduced to the community, including the General Linear Model (GLM), Voxel-based Morphometry (VBM), and Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM), and their application across imaging modalities (PET, MRI, fMRI, M/EEG, and OP-MEG). This event will provide a unique opportunity for an open discussion on the foundations for statistical inference in neuroimaging, considering what has gone well and what could be done better in future. The audience will drive the conversation, by highlighting areas of interest for the panel to address and by expressing their priorities for the future direction of SPM development. The panel will directly address key controversies in the field, such as ongoing reproducibility challenges. This forward-looking discussion will equip researchers and clinicians with a strategic perspective on the past, present, and future of neuroimaging research.

Objective

After participating in this roundtable, attendees will be able to:
1. Describe critical methodological challenges and lessons learned in neuroimaging research over the past three decades, including principles that maximise reproducibility and enable valid statistical inferences.
2. Identify the latest developments in methodology research that are available through SPM and are directly applicable to attendees’ specific research questions.
3. Identify opportunities to contribute to the future development of imaging analysis methods in SPM and in the field more broadly. 

Target Audience

The target audience includes researchers and clinicians, who are interested in the development and application of statistical methods in neuroimaging. It will be useful for people who would like to gain a general awareness of how the field came to be, as well for people who are actively involved in methods development or may be interested in contributing in the future. 

Presentations

Roundtable panellist (specialist in SPM for M/EEG)

A brief introduction to the development of SPM for M/EEG followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Marta Garrido, The University of Melbourne Melbourne
Australia

Roundtable panellist (specialist in SPM for MRI and VBM)

A brief introduction to the development of SPM for MRI and VBM followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Christian Lambert, University College London London
United Kingdom

Roundtable panellist (specialist in imaging statistics)

A brief introduction to the development of statistical inference approaches in SPM followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Thomas Nichols, PhD, University of Oxford
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire 
United Kingdom

Roundtable panellist (specialist in SPM for PET)

A brief introduction to the development of SPM for PET followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Christophe Phillips, Université de Liège
GIGA CRC Human Imaging
Liège, Liège 
Belgium

Roundtable panellist (specialist in SPM for OP-MEG)

A brief introduction to the development of SPM for OP-MEG followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Tim Tierney, University College London London
United Kingdom

Roundtable panellist (specialist in DCM)

A brief introduction to the development of DCM followed by roundtable discussion on 30 years of SPM. 

Presenter

Adeel Razi, Monash University Melbourne, VIC 
Australia