Automated parcellation and atlasing of the human subcortex with ultra-high resolution quantitative MRI

Abstract

Brain mapping efforts are time-consuming and benefit from an incremental approach. This allows periodic updates with newly acquired data, analysis methods, and resulting atlases and automated delineation approaches. Here, we present a new release of the Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD). The AHEAD dataset is now extended with 105 7 Tesla slab quantitative MRI contrasts covering the subcortex at a 0.5 mm isotropic resolution. The data were collected from 105 participants covering the adult lifespan together with the previously released whole-brain acquisitions. Whole-brain and slab data now have been co-registered, manually delineated, and used for the expansion of the Multi-contrast anatomical subcortical structures parcellation (MASSP) algorithm, which now allows the individual delineation of 19 additional anatomical structures. MASSP2.0 can be used to delineate 35 structures in individual brain contrasts, creating a total of 63 created masks. Quantitative MRI maps, derived probability maps for anatomical structures, as well as MASSP2.0 are now freely available for further analyses.