Structural brain asymmetry as revealed by 3D texture analysis of anatomical MR images

We used 3D texture analysis approach to examine the structural brain asymmetry. The method is based on extended, multi-sort cooccurrence matrices that employ intensity, gradient and anisotropy image features in a uniform way. The asymmetry in normals and in patients with pathological findings was evaluated on a large sample of 310 MRI-TI images with the focus on the asymmetry differences associated with gender. The analysis revealed higher asymmetry in males comparing females (t = 7.23, p < 10^-6 in young and t = 2.65, p = 0.012 in elderly subjects). Separate analysis of white and gray matters showed significant asymmetry increase with age (F = 21.43, p < 10^-6) of gray but not white matter.