Comparison of Cortical Folding Measures for Evaluation of Developing Cortex

Joshua S. Shimony¹, Jason Hill¹, John Harwell¹, Tim Coalson¹, Dierker Donna¹, Terrie Inder¹, David Van Essen¹, Jeff J. Neil¹

A variety of measures have been proposed to evaluate cortical folding, many of which are based on the mathematical quantity of curvature. We obtained MRI data from premature infants at <27, 30-31, 34-35, and 38-39 wks postmenstrual age (PMA). We evaluated how 17 cortical folding measures change with increasing PMA. There was considerable disparity in the sensitivity of the measures to cortical maturation, though a subset increased in a monotonic and predictable fashion, making them suitable for evaluation of brain development.