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Volume versus surface-based cortical thickness measurements: A comparative study with healthy controls and multiple
R Righart1,2, P Schmidt1,2,3, R Dahnke4
1Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Plos One
|July 7, 2017
Summary
The Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT) offers a viable alternative to FreeSurfer for measuring cortical thickness. Both tools effectively identify brain changes in multiple sclerosis and aging, with CAT being a computationally efficient option.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging analysis
- Brain structure and function
- Cognitive neuroscience
Background:
- The cerebral cortex, crucial for cognition, undergoes alterations in development and disease.
- Measuring cortical thickness is vital for understanding these changes.
- Existing software tools vary in efficiency and computational requirements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT), a volume-based tool, with FreeSurfer, a surface-based tool.
- To evaluate their effectiveness in analyzing cortical thickness.
- To assess their performance in detecting disease-related and age-related changes.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of cortical thickness measurements between CAT and FreeSurfer.
- Analysis of cortical thinning in multiple sclerosis patients versus healthy controls.
- Assessment of age-related cortical thinning in study cohorts.
Main Results:
- High inter-correlation between overall thickness measures from CAT and FreeSurfer.
- Systematically lower thickness estimates in CAT compared to FreeSurfer.
- Comparable identification of MS-related and age-related cortical thinning clusters by both methods.
Conclusions:
- The volume-based CAT tool is a considerable alternative to the surface-based FreeSurfer for cortical thickness analysis.
- Both tools effectively capture significant patterns of cortical thinning.
- CAT presents a computationally efficient option for neuroimaging studies.
