Dyslexia diagnostics by 3-D shape analysis of the corpus callosum

Dyslexia severely impairs learning abilities; therefore, improved diagnostic methods are needed. Neuropathological studies have revealed an abnormal anatomy of the corpus callosum (CC) in dyslexic brains. We propose a new approach for the quantitative analysis of 3-D magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain that ensures a more accurate quantification of anatomical differences between the CC of dyslexic and control subjects. The proposed approach consists of three main processing steps: 1) segmenting the CC from a given 3-D MRI using the learned CC shape and visual appearance; 2) extracting the centerline of the CC; and 3) cylindrical mapping of the CC surface for its comparative analysis. Validation on 3-D simulated phantoms demonstrates the ability of the proposed approach to accurately detect the shape variability between two 3-D surfaces. Experimental results revealed significant differences (at the 95% confidence level) between 14 normal and 16 dyslexic subjects in all four anatomical divisions, i.e., splenium, rostrum, genu, and body of their CCs. Moreover, the initial classification results based on the centerline length and CC thickness suggest that the proposed shape analysis is a promising supplement to the current techniques for diagnosing dyslexia.