A framework to improve the alignment of individual cytoarchitectonic maps of the Julich-Brain atlas using cortical folding landmarks

The segregation of the cortical mantle into cytoarchitectonic areas provides a structural basis for the specialization of different brain regions. In vivo neuroimaging experiments can be linked to this postmortem cytoarchitectonic parcellation via Julich-Brain. This atlas embeds probabilistic maps that account for inter-individual variability in the localization of cytoarchitectonic areas in the reference spaces targeted by spatial normalization. We built a framework to improve the alignment of architectural areas across brains using cortical folding landmarks. This framework, initially designed for in vivo imaging, was adapted to postmortem histological data. We applied this to the first 14 brains used to establish the Julich-Brain atlas to infer a refined atlas with more focal probabilistic maps. The improvement achieved is significant in the primary regions and some of the associative areas. This framework also provides a tool for exploring the relationship between cortical folding patterns and cytoarchitectonic areas in different cortical regions to establish new landmarks in the remainder of the cortex.