Shape Analysis Study

There is growing evidence to suggest that some structural brain abnormalities observed in schizophrenia are neurodevelopmental in origin. There is also evidence to suggest that shape deformations may reflect abnormalities in neurodevelopment. While many MR studies have measured area, volume, and assymmetry of brain structures, few have focused on shape deformations. Our group has collaborated with Guido Gerig and colleagues at UNC, Chapel Hill to evaluate the shape of the amygdale-hippocampal complex using a hierarchical 3D shape representation technique, based on spherical harmonic functions, to describe shape differences (e.g., Shenton et al., 2002). We have also worked in collaboration with Eric Grimson, Ph.D. and his students at MIT's Artifical Intelligence Laboratory.

The left amygdala-hippocampal complex is on the left in purple,  while the mirrored right complex is in yellow in Panel A. Panel B  shows the overlap of the two structures in a slightly different rotation.

In collaboration with a student at MIT's Artificial Intellegence Lab, the schizophrenia group is also investigating corpus callosum shape differences between schizophrenics and normal controls. Area and volume of this anatomical region are also of interest.

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