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Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images
Bruce R. Fischl, Anders Martin Dale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2000-09-12
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Accurate and automated methods for measuring the thickness of human cerebral cortex could provide powerful tools for diagnosing and studying a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Manual methods for estimating cortical thickness from neuroimaging data are labor intensive, requiring several days of effort by a trained anatomist. Furthermore, the highly folded nature of the cortex is problematic for manual techniques, frequently resulting in measurement errors in regions in which the cortical surface is not perpendicular to any of the cardinal axes. As a consequence, it has been impractical to obtain accurate thickness estimates for the entire cortex in individual subjects, or group statistics for patient or control populations. Here, we present an automated method for accurately measuring the thickness of the cerebral cortex across the entire brain and for generating cross-subject statistics in a coordinate system based on cortical anatomy. The intersubject standard deviation of the thickness measures is shown to be less than 0.5 mm, implying the ability to detect focal atrophy in small populations or even individual subjects. The reliability and accuracy of this new method are assessed by within-subject test-retest studies, as well as by comparison of cross-subject regional thickness measures with published values.
Why it matters
Presents an automated method for measuring the thickness of the cerebral cortex across the whole brain from MRI scans. The authors report variation between people of less than 0.5 mm, which they say could allow detection of focal shrinkage in small groups or even individuals.
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How this study scored 57/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 54 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 57 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: journal h-index 1,167 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | — / 5 | No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2000 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 5,859 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 209.2 citations a year over 28 year(s) since 2000 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 820 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Anders Martin Dale: h-index 185 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 10984517) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 54 / 95 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 54 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 57 out of 100. |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Fischl, B. R., & Dale, A. M. (2000). Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.200033797
Vancouver
Fischl BR, Dale AM. Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2000. doi:10.1073/pnas.200033797. PMID: 10984517.
BibTeX
@article{fischl2000-10984517,
author = {Fischl, Bruce R. and Dale, Anders Martin},
title = {{Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images}},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2000},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.200033797},
pmid = {10984517},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.200033797}
}
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