Webinar: BIDS-ifying fNIRS

The growing adoption of fNIRS is also accelerated by establishing clear standards, which are essential to enable seamless data reuse and to ensure reproducible results across toolboxes and laboratories. Building on the success of the fMRI community, the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) framework has also been tailored for fNIRS and is being adopted by the fNIRS community. We begin by discussing the motivation behind BIDS and platforms like OpenNeuro, followed by an introduction to SNIRF and its integration within the BIDS specification.

You will then be introduced to Cedalion, a Python toolbox for fNIRS data handling and processing, which includes utilities for BIDS conversion as well as broader support for working with fNIRS datasets. The core of the session is a hands-on demonstration of how to make your data BIDS-compliant with minimal effort using Cedalion’s snirf2bids workflow, showcasing different case studies and types of raw data formats. We’ll wrap up with an open Q&A to discuss practical concerns and gather community feedback.

Agenda (60min total)

1. (5min) Motivation and Openneuro 
2. (10min) SNIRF + BIDS introduction 
3. (10min) Cedalion Intro 
4. (20 min) Hands-On Demos 
   1. Snirf2BIDS workflow
   2. Variants (raw data and event files)
5. (15min) Q&A

REGISTRATION: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfW0jiOl_RKKNS5KaY1-9uaFiZtEDdUp6DIChEQY35vrQ8L9Q/viewform

--

Please find also a recent IBS paper on these topics (nature communication biology): https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08412-1