Department of Mathematics Seminar
University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, TX
October 13, 1999

Mapping the Human Brain with the Riemann Mapping Theorem

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

Functional brain activity mainly occurs on the surface of the human brain in the grey matter. Interestingly, this surface is topologically equivalent to a two-dimensional sheet. As a result, it is possible to flatten and unfold this surface to create a flat map of the human brain. This map can then be used to map and localize functional activity. In this seminar, I will present a novel computer realization of the Riemann Mapping Theorem that uses circle packings to create quasi-conformal flat maps. I will discuss some of the topological difficulties encountered while trying to obtain a surface representation of the brain from high-resolution 3D magnetic resonance (MRI) images and present some of the quasi-conformal maps I have created in the Euclidean plane, in the hyperbolic plane and on a sphere.


Updated September 1999.
Copyright 1999 by Monica K. Hurdal. All rights reserved.