MRI Analysis of Relationships Between Different Visual Centers in the Brain: A Voxel-based Morphology Analysis
Amr K. Hassan1, Hamza K. Alsalhi2, Mohamed Zeyada3, Taha Nagib4, Sadeen Eid5, Ahmad Abusharkh6, Hany Atwan7, Benyameen Y. Mosa8, Hashem Abu Serhan9, Ahmed Negida10
1South Valley University, 2The Hashemite University, 3Kafr-elsheikh University, 4University of Tripoli, 5Jordan University of Science and Technology, 6Yarmouk University, 7Assiut University, 8Misr University for Science and Technology, 9Hamad Medical Corporation, 10Virginia Commonwealth University
Objective:
The main goal of our research is to conduct a thorough comparative investigation of the structural elements of the visual pathway.
Background:
Different brain areas play a significant role in the visual process, although many areas are still under study. The exploration and study of the human brain's visual pathway relies heavily on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Design/Methods:
We analyzed the results of 27 MRI scans of a healthy patient dataset. Analysis was done using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) Version 12, a statistical software embedded in MATLAB. For segmentation purposes, we used a toolbox within SPM 12, CAT12 (Computational Anatomy Toolbox).
Results:
The strongest positive correlations were between the right and left Cuneus grey matter (r2 = 0.96, p < 0.01). There was a strong positive correlation between the left Middle Occipital Gyrus grey matter and Left area hOc4la of Lower Occipital Cortex grey matter (r2 = 0.87, p < 0.01), and between the Right area hOc4la of Lower Occipital Cortex grey matter and Right Middle Occipital Gyrus grey matter (r2 = 0.8, p < 0.01). Left area hOc2 of V2 grey matter had strong positive correlations with many areas including the bilateral area hOc3d of Cuneus (with the bilateral area hOc3 of V2 grey matter), the bilateral Lingual gyrus grey matter, the right area hOc2 of V2 grey matter, the left area hOc3v of Lingual gyrus grey matter and left Inferior Occipital Gyrus grey matter, as well as both the grey and white matter of left area hOc1 of V1. The right area hOc2 of V2 grey matter had similar connections to the contralateral corresponding structures.
Conclusions:
Many strong positive correlations exist between possible and established vision centers in the brain, hinting at their major involvement in the vision pathway.