Dear all
I’m writing to ask for advice on diagnosing a systematic problem in my SPM analyses. I’m running SPM5 with Matlab 2007b on a Windows XP machine. For the past two months I have been unable to run first level analyses because of systematic unpredictable errors.
When I try to recall the data from a SPM.mat file (after either first or second level processing) in some cases the recalled file does not correspond with the original data. This error does not affect all files, I have been unable to establish why some file mappings are wrong while other remain correct. This problem seems completely random and thus I am unable to pinpoint the source.
I am also encountering a problem with some of the contrast images (again a random selection). The images are totally degraded, highly pixelated, no activation pattern is visible, and I can only say they almost look to have been scribbled over (in black and white). On some occasions this problem shows up when the contrast image is first made.
I am quite accustomed to running these analyses and I am sure there is no problem with the data or the machine itself. It appears that SPM / Matlab could be rewriting file paths, at least for the first problem?
I appreciate that you are unable to offer one to one SPM support, but I am having extreme difficulties in pinpointing the source of these errors, particularly as they are irregular. I would be very grateful for any information you might be able to provide to unable me to solve these problems.
Thank you very much
Best regards
Cinzia Di Dio
University of Parma, Italy
