Laboratory for Neuro Imaging (LONI)
School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles, CA
August 7, 2000

Quasi-Conformal Flat Maps of the Human Brain

Monica K. Hurdal, Department of Mathematics, Florida State University

It is believed that flat maps of the cortex facilitate the recognition of individual differences in cortical organization and the localization of activated foci in functional neuroimages. It is impossible to flatten a curved surface in 3D space without metric and areal distortion. However, the Riemann Mapping Theorem implies that it is theoretically possible to preserve conformal (angular) information under flattening. I am using a novel computer realization of the Riemann Mapping Theorem that uses circle packings to create quasi-conformal flat maps of the cortical surface obtained from MRI scans. This approach offers a number of advantages including maps can be created in the Euclidean and hyperbolic planes and on a sphere and the maps are mathematically unique. I will discuss this method and present some of the flat maps of the cerebellum that I have created using this approach.


Updated August 2000.
Copyright 2000 by Monica K. Hurdal. All rights reserved.