title: Impact of methodologic choice for automatic detection of different aspects of brain atrophy by using temporal lobe epilepsy as a model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  VBM, DBM, and cortical thickness measurement techniques are commonly used automated methods to detect structural brain changes based on MR imaging. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the pathology detected by the 3 methods and to provide guidance as to which method to choose for specific research questions. This goal was accomplished by 1) identifying structural abnormalities associated with TLE with (TLE-mts) and without (TLE-no) hippocampal sclerosis, which are known to be associated with different types of brain atrophy, by using these 3 methods; and 2) determining the aspect of the disease pathology identified by each method.
  
  
  METHODS
  T1-weighted MR images were acquired for 15 TLE-mts patients, 14 TLE-no patients, and 33 controls on a high-field 4T scanner. Optimized VBM was carried out by using SPM software, DBM was performed by using a fluid-flow registration algorithm, and cortical thickness was analyzed by using FS-CT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In TLE-mts, the most pronounced volume losses were identified in the ipsilateral hippocampus and mesial temporal region, bilateral thalamus, and cerebellum, by using SPM-VBM and DBM. In TLE-no, the most widespread changes were cortical and identified by using FS-CT, affecting the bilateral temporal lobes, insula, and frontal and occipital lobes. DBM revealed 2 clusters of reduced volume complementing FS-CT analysis. SPM-VBM did not show any significant volume losses in TLE-no.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that the 3 methods detect different aspects of brain atrophy and that the choice of the method should be guided by the suspected pathology of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Department of Radiology, University of California-San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scanlon
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tosun
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barakos
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Laxer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008959:Models, Neurological; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology