3-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF ACTIVATED COLUMNS FROM 2-[C-14]DEOXY-D-GLUCOSE DATA

Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of autoradiograms can provide n ew insights into the functional relationship of neural regions. To rea ch full potential, however, 3-D reconstruction must be both accurate a nd efficient. In this paper, we present a novel image matching algorit hm that simultaneously aligns a set of serial sections and uses the me thod to reconstruct whisker barrels from the rat cerebral cortex. We i nitially compared several alignment techniques and found that our Mult i-Set Registration (MSR) algorithm produced superior accuracy. This al gorithm is based on a least-squares minimization technique and is able to simultaneously register a set of serial sections with subpixel pre cision (30-mu m accuracy). We applied our new technique to the 3-D rec onstruction of a series of autoradiograms. Our objective was to visual ize and measure the 3-D metabolic (functional) shape of normal (contro l) and developmentally altered (plastic) C3 vibrissa columns in the fi rst somatosensory area of the rat cerebral cortex. The plastic C3 meta bolic column showed a nearly 450% increase in volume when compared to the control column. In addition, the lesion-altered C3 column-in contr ast to the normal C3 column-displayed no central zone of high activity , and patches of higher metabolic activity were scattered throughout t he columnar profile. This metabolic activity was not confined to the c ylindrical column, but extended tangentially as radiating fingerlike p rojections toward neighboring barrels. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.