title: Analyzing the neocortical fine-structure.
abstract: Cytoarchitectonic fields of the human neocortex are defined by characteristic variations in the composition of a general six-layer structure. It is commonly accepted that these fields correspond to functionally homogeneous entities. Diligent techniques were developed to characterize cytoarchitectonic fields by staining sections of post-mortem brains and subsequent statistical evaluation. Fields were found to show a considerable interindividual variability in extent and relation to macroscopic anatomical landmarks. With upcoming new high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols, it appears worthwhile to examine the feasibility of characterizing the neocortical fine-structure from anatomical MRI scans, thus, defining neocortical fields by in vivo techniques. A fixated brain hemisphere was scanned at a resolution of approximately 0.3 mm. After correcting for intensity inhomogeneities in the dataset, the cortex boundaries (the white/grey matter and grey matter/background interfaces) were determined as a triangular mesh. Radial intensity profiles following the shortest path through the cortex were computed and characterized by a sparse set of features. A statistical similarity measure between features of different regions was defined, and served to define the extent of Brodmann's Areas 4, 17, 44 and 45 in this dataset.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Stephanstrasse 1, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. kruggel@cns.mpg.de
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kruggel
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Brückner
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: von Cramon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D002102:Cadaver; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D019579:Neocortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology