[Principles of voxel-based morphometry and availability of integrated software BAAD]

Abstract

BAAD is integrated software for investigation of brain morphological change using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). The basic part of the software is voxel-based morphometry (VBM) that has been developed by Drs. Ashburner and Friston. Pathological changes with neuronal loss results in brain atrophy, which can be detected by MRI. VBM provides an automated and unbiased assessment of such morphometric change throughout the brain. Recently, VBM has been drastically improved by introducing the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL) registration method that implements a high dimensional warping process. BAAD supports the full-length steps for VBM analysis and makes it easy for everyone. BAAD is a free software and works on 64bit Windows machine without MATLAB installation.