Miriam Waehnert1, Marcel Weiss1, Pierre-Louis Bazin1, Stefan Geyer1, Robert Turner1
1neurophysics, Max-Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Cortical profiling is an increasingly important tool in cortical parcellation and determination of cortical thickness. Profiles traversing the cortex have often been constructed numerically solving the Laplace equation to locate intracortical contours and thus the orthogonal profiles. It has been surmised that these profiles are relatively realistic or "natural". Can the Laplace equation solution adequately characterize the conformation of cortical layers as defined by cytoarchitecture or myeloarchitecture? With ultra-high resolution MR imaging, we have been able to answer this fundamental question by comparing the Laplace solution with the clearly defined Bands of Baillarger and the stria of Gennari.