Structural connectivity analysis using Finsler geometry

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate how Finsler geometry-and specifically the related geodesic tractography-5can be levied to analyze structural connections between different brain regions. We present new 6 theoretical developments which support the definition of a novel Finsler metric and associated con-7 nectivity measures, based on closely related works on the Riemannian framework for diffusion MRI. 8Using data from the Human Connectome Project, as well as population data from an autism spec-9 trum disorder study, we demonstrate that this new Finsler metric, together with the new connectivity 10 measures, results in connectivity maps that are much closer to known tract anatomy compared to 11 previous geodesic connectivity methods. Our implementation can be used to compute geodesic 12 distance and connectivity maps for segmented areas, and is publicly available. 13