© 2004 Morphometry BIRN
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Neuroscientists use magnetic resonance imaging of the brain to investigate how
its very complicated structures and functions relate to neurological diseases. Such studies
permit doctors to more easily predict the stage of a disease from a brain MRI, and also
potentially follow the progression of a disease under treatment.
This image shows a 3D brain image obtained from an MRI scan, using a powerful visualization
tool called 3D Slicer developed at
Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The brain is shown in two views, a coronal section (left side) and a surface reconstruction
(right side). The different colors represent results from another tool, called
FreeSurfer
developed at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
FreeSurfer is a computer program that takes the brain MRI and automatically detects and
classifies a wide variety of brain structures and brain areas so that quantitative information
can be extracted from them, like volume or thickness. This quantitative information can then
be used to look for relationships between brain atrophy and behavioral manifestations of
neurological disease.
Learn more at the BIRN Web site.
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