Dear Bob,
Thanks for your reply.
1. Non-filled ROIs would let us see what actual brain anatomy is inside the ROI e.g. how much gray matter is being included etc.
2. Some areas do not it very well in circular ROIs e.g. medial thalamus, cingulate gyrus etc.
3. Free hand ROIs would not give us consistent shapes or bilateral symmetry for ROIs.
Thanks,
Yang