The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is thought to play a major role in executive processes. Studies assessing neuroanatomical attributes of this region report a high degree of morphological variability. Recent theories consider the fissurization of the cortex to be a product of gross mechanical processes related to cortical growth and local cytoarchitectural characteristics. Hence, local sulcal patterning and gray matter volume are supposed to be associated. ACC fissurization was quantified in left- and right-handers of both sexes by recording the presence and extension of the paracingulate sulcus (PCS). Differences between groups regarding local gray matter volume were assessed by means of optimized voxel-based morphometry (oVBM) including additional modulation. Overall, the PCS occurred more often and was more pronounced in the left as compared to the right anterior cingulate region, although hemispheric differences were less pronounced in male left- and female right-handers. These discrepancies between groups seem to stem from variations of cingulate morphology in the left rather than the right hemisphere. The pattern of relevant comparisons in the oVBM analysis indicated a similar interaction. Therefore, evidence was found for discrepancies between groups and hemispheres on the macrostructural level.
Pubmed ID: 17161625 RIS Download
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MRIcro allows Windows and Linux computers view medical images. It is a standalone program, but includes tools to complement SPM (software that allows neuroimagers to analyze MRI, fMRI and PET images). MRIcro allows efficient viewing and exporting of brain images. In addition, it allows neuropsychologists to identify regions of interest (ROIs, e.g. lesions). MRIcro can create Analyze format headers for exporting brain images to other platforms. Some features of MRIcro are: - Converts medical images to SPM friendly Analyze format. - View Analyze format images (big or little endian). - Create Analyze format headers (big or little endian). - Create 3D regions of interest (with computed volume & intensity). - Overlap multiple regions of interest. - Rotate images to match SPM template images. - Export images to BMP, JPEG, PNG or TIF format. - Yoked images: linked viewing of multiple images (e.g. view same coordinates of PET and MRI scans). Users familiar with other Windows programs will find that this software is fairly straightforward to use. Resting the mouse cursor over a button will cause a text hint to appear over the button. However, a tutorial with a step by step guide of how to use MRIcro with SPM is available.
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