Curvature-based rational surface model for the detection of age and gender-related diversity in cortical morphology

A novel technique based on curvature changes in non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) deformations to detect profound variations in age and gender-related surface patterns of the human brain is presented. Initially, a deformable NURBS surface is used to segment the brains from normalized magnetic resonance (MR) images. The NURBS surface of a template brain is then deformed until it conforms to a representative brain. Significant variations in surface segments during deformations among different groups are captured by statistical analysis of curvature changes at deformed points. The results indicate a decrease in surface variability during brain development (from 4-18 years) in normal males and also significant variability in surface patterns on the frontal lobe between male and female adults.