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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on June 26, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp127
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Spatial Distribution of Deep Sulcal Landmarks and Hemispherical Asymmetry on the Cortical Surface

Kiho Im1, Hang Joon Jo2, Jean-François Mangin3, Alan C. Evans4, Sun I. Kim1 and Jong-Min Lee1

1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea, 2 Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892-1148, USA, 3 LNAO, Neurospin, I2BM, CEA, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France, 4 McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 2B4

Address correspondence to Jong-Min Lee, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, P.O. Box 55, Sungdong, Seoul 133-605, South Korea. Email: ljm{at}hanyang.ac.kr.

The locally deepest regions of major sulci, the sulcal pits, are thought to be the first cortical folds to develop and are closely related to functional areas. We examined the spatial distribution of sulcal pits across the entire cortical region, and assessed the hemispheric asymmetry in their frequency and distribution in a large group of normal adult brains. We automatically extracted sulcal pits from magnetic resonance imaging data using surface-based methods and constructed a group map from 148 subjects. The spatial distribution of the sulcal pits was relatively invariant between individuals, showing high frequency and density in specific focal areas. The left and right sulcal pits were spatially covariant in the regions of the earliest developed sulci. The sulcal pits with great spatial invariance appear to be useful as stable anatomical landmarks. We showed the most significant asymmetry in the frequency and spatial variance of sulcal pits in the superior temporal sulcus, which might be related to the lateralization of language function to the left hemisphere, developing more consistently and strongly than for the right. Our analyses support previous empirical and theoretical studies, and provide additional insights concerning the anatomical and functional development of the brain.

Key Words: brain development • cortical folding • functional lateralization • magnetic resonance imaging • sulcal pits


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