Abstract
Background Understanding typically developing infant brain structure is crucial in investigating neurological disorders of early childhood. Brain atlases providing standardised identification of neonatal brain regions are key in such investigations. Our previously developed Melbourne Children’s Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB) and M-CRIB 2.0 neonatal brain atlases provide standardised parcellation of 100 and 94 brain regions respectively, including cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar regions. The aim of this study was to extend the M-CRIB atlas coverage to include 54 white matter regions.
Methods Participants were ten healthy term-born neonates who comprised the sample for the M-CRIB and M-CRIB 2.0 atlases. WM regions were manually segmented on T2 images and co-registered diffusion tensor imaging-based, direction-encoded colour maps. Our labelled regions are based on those in the JHU-neonate-SS atlas, but differ in the following ways: 1) we included five corpus callosum subdivisions instead of a left / right division; 2) we included a left / right division for the middle cerebellar peduncle; and 3) we excluded the three brainstem divisions. All segmentations were reviewed and approved by a paediatric radiologist and a neurosurgery research fellow for anatomical accuracy.
Results The resulting neonatal WM atlas comprises 54 WM regions: 24 paired regions, and six unpaired regions comprising five corpus callosum subdivisions and one pontine crossing tract. Detailed protocols for manual WM parcellations are provided, and the M-CRIB-WM atlas is presented together with the existing M-CRIB and M-CRIB 2.0 cortical, subcortical and cerebellar parcellations in ten individual neonatal MRI datasets.
Conclusion The updated M-CRIB atlas including the WM parcellations will be made publicly available. The atlas will be a valuable tool that will help facilitate neuroimaging research into neonatal WM development in both healthy and diseased states.
List of Abbreviations
- AAL
- Automated Anatomical Labelling
- ACR
- Anterior Corona Radiata
- ALIC
- Anterior Limb of Internal Capsule
- ANTs
- Advanced Normalization Tools
- AP
- Anterior-Posterior
- BET
- Brain Extraction Tool
- CC
- Corpus Callosum
- CGC
- Cingulum Cingular Part
- CGH
- Cingulum Hippocampal Part
- CP
- Cerebellar Peduncle
- CR
- Corona Radiata
- CST
- Corticospinal Tracts
- DEC
- Direction-Encoded Colour
- DTI
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging
- DWI
- Diffusion Weighted Images
- EC
- External Capsule
- EPI
- Echo Planar Imaging
- FLIRT
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain’s Linear Image Registration Tool
- FMRI
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- FOV
- Field of View
- FSL
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Software Library
- FUGUE
- FMRIB’s Utility for Geometrically Unwarping Echo planar images
- Fx
- Fornix
- GM
- Grey Matter
- IC
- Internal Capsule
- ICP
- Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle
- IFO
- Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus
- ITK
- Insight Toolkit
- JHU
- Johns Hopkins University
- LR
- Left-Right
- MCP
- Middle Cerebellar Peduncle
- M-CRIB
- Melbourne Children’s Regional Infant Brain
- M-CRIB-WM
- Melbourne Children’s Regional Infant Brain-White Matter
- ML
- Medial Lemniscus
- MRI
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- PCR
- Posterior Corona Radiata
- PCT
- Pontine Crossing Tract
- PLIC
- Posterior Limb of Internal Capsule
- PTR
- Posterior Thalamic Radiation
- RLIC
- Retrolenticular Part of Internal Capsule
- SCP
- Superior Cerebellar Peduncle
- SCR
- Superior Corona Radiata
- SFO
- Superior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus
- SI
- Superior-Inferior
- SLF
- Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus
- SS
- Sagittal Stratum
- ST
- Stria Terminalis
- TAP
- Tapetum
- TE
- Echo Time
- TR
- Repetition Time
- UFC
- Uncinate Fasciculus
- WM
- White Matter