COMPUTATIONAL NEUROANATOMY OF AGING USING SHAPE ANALYSIS

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：本发明的长期目标是： 项目是开发数学框架和计算机 用于定量分析脑形态的实施方式， 表征其受正常和疾病衰老影响的方式。 的 这种方法论框架的基础是一种形状转换， 一个大脑的形态，被当作一个模板， 大脑的形态分析。 这种转变量化了 所分析的大脑的整体和局部形态特征， 相对于用作测量单元的模板。 受试者间和人群间比较通过比较 对应的形状变换。 第一个具体目标是 一个项目是开发和验证一个基于几何的形状转换 方法，利用从MR图像中提取的解剖特征。 特别强调了皮质沟的几何分析 常常在不同的功能皮层之间划分界限 区域，以及结构不规则，如心室扩张和 脑萎缩，发生与老化和脑部疾病。 第二特定 目的是开发和验证一个表征形状的框架 大脑结构的特性，如局部组织损失和形状 异常，利用上面的形状变换。 第三个 本项目的具体目标是测试这些方法的实用性 在大脑成像研究中，通过将其应用于衰老的纵向研究。 这里的目标是定位发生在细胞中的细微形态变化， 大脑与衰老，并将这种形态学变化与 同时或随后的功能和认知变化，这可能是 阿尔茨海默病的预测因子

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): The long term goal of this project is to develop the mathematical framework and the computer implementation for quantitatively analyzing brain morphology and characterizing the way it is affected by normal and diseased aging. The basis of this methodological framework is a shape transformation that adapts the morphology of one brain, which is treated as a template, to the morphology of the brain under analysis. This transformation quantifies global and local morphological characteristics of the brain under analysis, with respect to the template which serves as a measurement unit. Inter-subject and inter-population comparisons are performed by comparing the corresponding shape transformations. The first specific aim of this project is to develop and validate a geometry-based shape transformation methodology, utilizing anatomical features extracted from MR images. Special emphasis is given to the geometric analysis of the cortical sulci often demarcating the boundaries between different functional cortical regions, and to structural irregularities, such as ventricular expansion and brain atrophy, occurring with aging and brain diseases. The second specific aim is to develop and validate a framework for characterizing shape properties of brain structures, such as local tissue loss and shape abnormalities, utilizing the shape transformation above. Finally, the third specific aim of this project is to test the utility of these methodologies in brain imaging studies, by applying them to a longitudinal study of aging. The goal here is to localize subtle morphological changes occurring in the brain with aging, and to associate such morphological changes with concurrent or subsequent functional and cognitive changes, which might be predictors of Alzheimer's disease.