FUNCTIONAL SPECIALIZATIONS IN HUMAN CEREBRAL-CORTEX ANALYZED USING THE VISIBLE-MAN SURFACE-BASED ATLAS

We used surface-based representations to analyze functional specializa tions in the human cerebral cortex. A computerized reconstruction of t he cortical surface of the Visible Man digital atlas was generated and transformed to the Talairach coordinate system. This surface was also flattened and used to establish a surface-based coordinate system tha t respects the topology of the cortical sheet. The linkage between two -dimensional and three-dimensional representations allows the location s of published neuroimaging activation foci to be stereotaxically proj ected onto the Visible Man cortical flat map. An analysis of two activ ation studies related to the hearing and reading of music and of words illustrates how this approach permits the systematic estimation of th e degree of functional segregation and of potential functional overlap for different aspects of sensory processing. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc .