A COMPUTERIZED APPROACH FOR MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CORPUS-CALLOSUM

Objective: A new technique for analyzing the morphology of the corpus callosum is presented, and it is applied to a group of elderly subject s. Materials and Methods: The proposed approach normalizes subject dat a into the Talairach space using an elastic deformation transformation . The properties of this transformation are used as a quantitative des cription of the callosal shape with respect to the Talairach atlas, wh ich is treated as a standard. In particular, a deformation function me asures the enlargement/shrinkage associated with this elastic deformat ion. Intersubject comparisons are made by comparing deformation functi ons. Results: This technique was applied to eight male and eight femal e subjects. Based on the average deformation functions of each group, the posterior region of the female corpus callosum was found to be lar ger than its corresponding region in the males. The average callosal s hape of each group was also found, demonstrating visually the callosal shape differences between the two groups in this sample. Conclusion: The proposed methodology utilizes the full resolution of the data, rat her than relying on global descriptions such as area measurements. The application of this methodology to an elderly group indicated sex-rel ated differences in the callosal shape and size.