Neuroscience has become increasingly reliant on multi-subject research in addition to studies of unusual single patients. This research has brought with it a challenge: how are data from different human brains to be combined? The dominant strategy for aggregating data across brains is what I call the ‘cartographic approach’, which involves mapping data from individuals to a spatial template. Here I characterize the cartographic approach and argue that one of its key steps, registration, should be carried out in a way that is sensitive to the target of investigation. Because registration aims to align homologous brain locations, but not all homologous locations can be simultaneously aligned, a multiplicity of registration methods is required to meet the needs of researchers investigating different phenomena. I call this position ‘registration pluralism’. Registration pluralism has potential implications for neuroscientific practice, three of which I discuss here. This work shows the importance of reflecting more carefully on data aggregation methods, especially in light of the substantial individual differences that exist between brains.

1.  Introduction: Data Aggregation in Neuroscience

2.  The Contemporary Cartographic Approach to Aggregation across Brains

3.  Registration Pluralism

4.  Homology and the Goal of Registration

5.  Organizational Variation and Failures of Simultaneous Alignment

6.  The Scope of Registration Pluralism

7.  Potential Methodological Implications of Registration Pluralism

7.1.  Purpose-sensitive selection of registration methods

7.2.  Functional registration

7.3.  Standardized preprocessing pipelines

8.  Registration Pluralism and the Study of the Brain