Computer systems, computer-implemented methods, and non-transitory computer readable storage media for gross feature recognition including receiving an image comprising a plurality of image elements representing the region of interest of the subject. Gross feature recognition can further include co-registering the image to an atlas to segment the plurality of image elements into a plurality of sub-regions corresponding to structures in the atlas, where the structures in the atlas are ordered in a first rank order according to a predetermined feature. Further included can be ordering the plurality of sub-regions in a second rank order according to the predetermined feature. Further included can be identifying as gross features one or more of the plurality of sub-regions whose positions in the first rank order of the ordered sub-regions differ from positions in the second rank order of the corresponding ordered structures in the atlas.
