Eigenmode-based neuroimaging tools developed by the Neural Systems and Behaviour Lab.

• Compute geometric eigenmodes from cortical surface meshes
• Decompose and reconstruct cortical maps using an orthogonal basis set
• Simulate neural and BOLD activity using neural field theory
• Generate structural connectomes using the method from Normand et al. (2025)
• Incorporate spatial heterogeneity into all of the above via cortical maps
• Visualise matrices and cortical maps
• Access triangular surface meshes for human, macaque, and marmoset cortices

All human cortical surface meshes provided were obtained from the neuromaps package, which also provides a diverse set of cortical maps that can be used for our EigenSolver's hetero parameter.

To compare cortical maps while accounting for spatial autocorrelation, we recommend using the eigenstrapping package, which implements a rigorous null model based on geometric eigenmodes.

nsbtools works with Python 3.9 to 3.12. It can be installed by cloning the repository and installing from the local directory:

git clone https://github.com/NSBLab/nsbtools
cd nsbtools
pip install .

Tests can be run with pytest:

cd nsbtools
pip install pytest
pytest tests

Alternatively, nsbtools can be installed via UV by running uv sync from the repository's root or uv add <path/to/nsbtools> from another project's directory.

If you use nsbtools in your work, please cite the following three papers:

J.C. Pang, K.M. Aquino, M. Oldehinkel, P.A. Robinson, B.D. Fulcher, M. Breakspear, A. Fornito, Geometric constraints on human brain function, Nature, 618, 566–574 (2023) (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06098-1)

M. Reuter, F-E. Wolter, N. Peinecke, Laplace-Beltrami spectra as 'Shape-DNA' of surfaces and solids, Computer-Aided Design, 38(4), 342-366 (2006). (DOI: 10.1016/j.cad.2005.10.011)

C. Wachinger, P. Golland, W. Kremen, B. Fischl, M. Reuter, BrainPrint: a discriminative characterization of brain morphology, Neuroimage, 109, 232-248 (2015). (DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.01.032)

Additionally, if you use the generate_connectome function, please also cite:

F. Normand, M. Gajwani, T. Cao, J. Cruddas, A. Sangchooli, S. Oldham, A. Holmes, P.A. Robinson, J.C. Pang, A. Fornito, Geometric constraints on the architecture of mammalian cortical connectomes, BioRxiv (2025) (DOI: 10.1101/2025.09.17.676944)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (cc-by-nc-sa). See the LICENSE file for details.