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Open Imaging Index
MRI Brain

GSP

Brain Genomics Superstruct Project

Open access release of 1,570 healthy young adults aged 18 to 35 from Boston, each with a multi-echo MPRAGE T1w scan and one or two eyes-open resting-state BOLD runs at 3T, plus FreeSurfer morphometrics, fMRI quality metrics and behavioral measures, and 69 test-retest pairs.

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Overview

The Brain Genomics Superstruct Project collected a short structural and resting-state MRI protocol, saliva for DNA and online behavioral tests from healthy volunteers who were already taking part in other studies on matched scanners in the Boston area. Its first open data release, from Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, covers 1,570 young adults scanned between 2008 and 2012 and is meant for large-sample work on normal brain structure, functional networks and their relation to personality and cognition. It is hosted on Harvard Dataverse.

Composition

All 1,570 participants are 18 to 35 years old (mean 21.5), and about 58% are women. Each has one T1-weighted scan and at least one resting-state BOLD run; 1,139 have a second run. A separate archive holds 69 people scanned a second time within six months for test-retest work. Spreadsheets give demographics, fMRI quality metrics and FreeSurfer morphometrics computed before face blurring. Self-report measures exist for 926 people and cognitive tasks for 892. A set of more sensitive phenotypes sits on the LONI archive under stricter terms. Genotypes were planned but are not part of this release.

Acquisition

Scans came from Siemens 3T Tim Trio scanners at Harvard and MGH, all with the 12-channel head coil. The T1w image is the root mean square of a four-echo MPRAGE at 1.2 mm isotropic, taking about two minutes. Each BOLD run lasts about six minutes at 3 mm isotropic with a 3 s TR, eyes open. Images are NIfTI, and anatomical scans were defaced by face blurring.

Annotations

There are no manual labels. FreeSurfer 4.5.0 outputs were produced automatically and only checked visually.

Known limitations

  • A convenience sample: many are college students, education and estimated IQ are above the population average, and about 62% are white non-Hispanic.
  • Sessions with artifacts, low signal-to-noise or a large shift in head size after face blurring were dropped, so the sample is filtered on data quality.
  • The scanner software version changed during collection (B13, B15, B17); it is recorded per session.
  • Face blurring changes some regional morphometric estimates.

Cohort

Aggregate numbers from the sources below. Bars are relative to the 1,570 subjects.

Sex

  • Female 905 58%
  • Male 665 42%

Age

mean 21.5± 2.9 · range 18 to 35
0
200
400
560
18-1920-2122-2324-2526-2728-2930-3132-3334-35

Age by sex

Reported cross table. Missing cells were not published (fewer than 10 subjects or not reported).

Female Male
  • 2
    34-35
    2
  • 5
    32-33
    6
  • 7
    30-31
    13
  • 14
    28-29
    14
  • 40
    26-27
    26
  • 68
    24-25
    41
  • 149
    22-23
    114
  • 289
    20-21
    220
  • 331
    18-19
    229

Contrast combinations

How many subjects have exactly each set of contrasts.

T1wboldSubjects with exactly this set
1,570

Modality

subjects

  • MRI 1,570 100%

Contrast / sequence

subjects, values can overlap

  • T1-weighted 1,570 100%
  • BOLD fMRI 1,570 100%

Condition

subjects, values can overlap

  • Healthy control 1,570 100%

Scanner vendor

subjects

  • Siemens Healthineers 1,570 100%

Field strength

subjects

  • 3 T 1,570 100%

Country

subjects

  • United States 1,570 100%

License and access

Our reading of the license, not legal advice. Before you use the data, read the original license and confirm that your use is allowed. We take no responsibility for how you use a dataset. Full disclaimer

Access
Signed agreement

Sign a data use agreement, often reviewed by the provider

Access page

Brain Genomics Superstruct Project Open Access Data Use Terms

Accepted on Harvard Dataverse before requesting the files. Users must not try to identify or contact participants or link the data to other data about them, must follow their institution's human-subjects rules and must acknowledge the GSP. Original and derived data may be passed on only under the same terms.

Covers the open access release on Dataverse. An extended set of more sensitive phenotypes is held on the LONI Image Data Archive and needs separately signed GSP Restricted Data Use Terms, whose text is not public.

Original license text Version read: 2014-Apr-22 (Terms of Use of the GSP Dataverse dataset, version 10.6) Checked 2026-10-09

What you can do

  • Not stated
  • Not stated
  • Yes
  • Yes

What you can share

  • Conditional
  • Conditional
  • Share trained models Not stated

What you must do

  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Conditional
  • Manuscript review No
  • Release code No
  • Return results No
  • Delete after use No

Limits

  • Yes
  • No

Commercial license: Not stated

Citation

Holmes AJ, Hollinshead MO, O'Keefe TM, et al. Brain Genomics Superstruct Project initial data release with structural, functional, and behavioral measures. Scientific Data 2, 150031 (2015). doi:10.1038/sdata.2015.31

All numbers

Every number on this page, as stored in stats.csv, with its source.

MeasureBreakdownValueSource
Subjectstotal
main release; 69 test-retest participants are distributed separately
1,570holmes2015
Table 2
Subjectscondition=healthy
no history of Axis I or neurological disorder, no psychotropic medication
1,570holmes2015
Methods, Participants
Subjectsmodality=MR 1,570holmes2015
Table 2
Subjectsfield_strength=3 1,570holmes2015
Methods, MRI data acquisition
Subjectsvendor=siemens
matched Siemens 3T Tim Trio scanners
1,570holmes2015
Methods, MRI data acquisition
Subjectscountry=US
recruited from the Boston community
1,570holmes2015
Methods, Participants
Subjectscontrast=T1w
multi-echo MPRAGE
1,570holmes2015
Abstract
Subjectscontrast=bold
resting state; 1139 subjects have two runs
1,570holmes2015
Table 2
Subjectscontrast_set=bold+T1w 1,570holmes2015
Abstract
Subjectssex=female
sum of the female column (57.6% in Table 2)
905holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male
sum of the male column
665holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=18-19
sum of males and females
560holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=20-21
sum of males and females
509holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=22-23
sum of males and females
263holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=24-25
sum of males and females
109holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=26-27
sum of males and females
66holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=28-29
sum of males and females
28holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=30-31
sum of males and females
20holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=32-33
sum of males and females
11holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectsage=34-35
sum of males and females
4holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=18-19 229holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=18-19 331holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=20-21 220holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=20-21 289holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=22-23 114holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=22-23 149holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=24-25 41holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=24-25 68holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=26-27 26holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=26-27 40holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=28-29 14holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=28-29 14holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=30-31 13holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=30-31 7holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=32-33 6holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=32-33 5holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=male;age=34-35 2holmes2015
Table 3
Subjectssex=female;age=34-35 2holmes2015
Table 3
Mean agetotal 21.5holmes2015
Table 2
Age SDtotal 2.9holmes2015
Table 2
Minimum agetotal 18holmes2015
Table 2
Maximum agetotal 35holmes2015
Table 2
Scanstotal
1570 T1w plus 2709 BOLD runs, summed; main release only
4,279holmes2015
Abstract; Data Records, Imaging data
Scanscontrast=T1w
one RMS-averaged multi-echo MPRAGE per subject in the main release
1,570holmes2015
Data Records, Imaging data
Scanscontrast=bold
1570 first runs plus 1139 second runs, summed; main release only
2,709holmes2015
Abstract

Sources

The keys used in the table above.