Whenever a program is used for data analysis, it is important for the community at large to understand what algorithms were used in the analysis. And while NeuroElf is mostly written to make algorithms accessible (user friendliness aspect), it is equally relevant to ascertain that the methods implemented in any program have been accepted by the scientific community as “useful and reliable” (to achieve the intended goal) and are (as much as possible) free of errors, both when it comes to potential flaws in the algorithm as well as its specific implementation in the given program.

As an example, initially when using the alphasim button (NeuroElf GUI access to the alphasim.m function) the GUI would demand user input for the estimated smoothness of the data, and as a default value 6mm were given.