Maps of the brain

We review recent developments in brain mapping and computational anatomy th at have greatly expanded our ability to analyze brain structure and functio n. The enormous diversity of brain maps and imaging methods has spurred the development of population-based digital brain atlases. These atlases store information on how the brain varies across age and gender, across time, in health and disease, and in large human populations. We describe how brain atlases, and the computational tools that align new datasets with them, fac ilitate comparison of brain data across experiments, laboratories, and from different imaging devices. The major methods are presented for the constru ction of probabilistic atlases, which stove information on anatomic and fun ctional variability in a population. Algorithms are reviewed that create co mposite brain maps and atlases based on multiple subjects. We show that gro up patterns of cortical organization, asymmetry, and disease-specific trend s can be resolved that may not be apparent in individual brain maps. Finall y, we describe the creation of four-dimensional (4D) maps that store inform ation on the dynamics of brain change in development and disease. Digital a tlases that correlate these maps show considerable promise in identifying g eneral patterns of structural and functional variation in human populations , and how these features depend on demographic, genetic, cognitive, and cli nical parameters. Anat Rec (New Anat) 265:37-53, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.