Does common standard brain template standardize for all brains regardless the different age, gender and culture?

Abstract

Abstract—In functional brain imaging studies, especially when adjusting the functional image to define a standard brain, it is essential to describe the brain images obtained from different subjects using the same coordinate system. Across the years, studies have been conducted to develop a standard brain template that is compatible to different population although the human brain is highly different in shape and size between individuals and basic demographic factors. The Korean standard brain template was the early Eastern template developed and shows the difference between Eastern and Western brains. Compared to MNI and Talairach atlas, Korean brain template was shorter in anterior-posterior length. In Singapore, neonates’ brain template for multiple races was developed, where brain of the Indian neonates more elongated than Malay neonates. The latest study on 1,000 Chinese subjects has developed 10 new Chinese brain atlases comprising different ages and gender. Via these researches, it is proved that standard brain template could be different across age, culture and gender. In this review paper, the scenario of the standard brain templates development is briefly discussed, followed by the comparison of results obtained from previous study.