title: A comparison between volumetric data generated by voxel-based morphometry and manual parcellation of multimodal regions of the frontal lobe.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Volumetric measurements on structural MR images are an established method to investigate pathology-related volume changes in cortex. Manual volumetric methods have sometimes been referred to as the reference standard for quality control of automatic volumetric methods. While some automatic methods, like VBM, may rely on a template, manual methods use sulci as indirect landmarks for the subdivision of cortex. The purpose of this study was to compare volumetric data generated by MM and VBM on 4 multimodal regions in the frontal lobe.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated 4 multimodal frontocortical regions by MM and VBM in patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Alzheimer disease and controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MM and VBM results were highly correlated for dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and hippocampus, but not for the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate. VBM results were more consistent with results from previous studies on cingulate in frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Our results may potentially be explained by 2 factors. First, the volume of small cortical regions may be more affected by anatomic variability than large regions in the MM. Second, it has been shown that the location of multimodal cytoarchitectonic areas, such as the cingulate cortex, may be difficult to predict by the appearance of sulci and gyri.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While both VBM and the MM may do equally poorly in predicting cytoarchitecture, the MM may add additional unrelated variance caused by anatomic variability. Thus, paradoxically, the higher anatomic precision of the MM may potentially cause a weaker relation to cytoarchitecture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. olof.lindberg@ki.se
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manzouri
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Westman
authors.forename: L-O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Wahlund
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D009929:Organ Size; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity