A map of white matter tracts in a lesser ape, the lar gibbon

The recent development of methods for constructing directly comparable white matter atlases in primate brains from diffusion MRI allows us to probe specializations unique to humans, great apes, and other primate taxa. Here, we constructed the first white matter atlas of a lesser ape using an ex vivo diffusion-weighted scan of a brain from a young adult (5.5 years) male lar gibbon. We find that white matter architecture of the gibbon temporal lobe suggests specializations that are reminiscent of those previously reported for great apes, specifically, the expansion of the arcuate fasciculus and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus in the temporal lobe. Our findings suggest these white matter expansions into the temporal lobe were present in the last common ancestor to hominoids approximately 16 million years ago and were further modified in the great ape and human lineages. White matter atlases provide a useful resource for identifying neuroanatomical differences and similarities between humans and other primate species and provide insight into the evolutionary variation and stasis of brain organization

Language Development and the Ontogeny of the Dorsal Pathway

In the absence of clear phylogenetic data on the neurobiological basis of the evolution of language, comparative studies across species and across ontogenetic stages within humans may inform us about the possible neural prerequisites of language. In the adult human brain, language-relevant regions located in the frontal and temporal cortex are connected via different fiber tracts: ventral and dorsal pathways. Ontogenetically, it has been shown that newborns display an adult-like ventral pathway at birth. The dorsal pathway, however, seems to display two subparts which mature at different rates: one part, connecting the temporal cortex to the premotor cortex, is present at birth, whereas the other part, connecting the temporal cortex to Broca’s area, develops much later and is still not fully matured at the age of seven. At this age, typically developing children still have problems in processing syntactically complex sentences. We therefore suggest that the mastery of complex syntax, which is at the core of human language, crucially depends on the full maturation of the fiber connection between the temporal cortex and Broca’s area

Detailed mapping of the complex fiber structure and white matter pathways of the chimpanzee brain

Long-standing questions about human brain evolution may only be resolved through comparisons with close living evolutionary relatives, such as chimpanzees. This applies in particular to structural white matter (WM) connectivity, which continuously expanded throughout evolution. However, due to legal restrictions on chimpanzee research, neuroscience research currently relies largely on data with limited detail or on comparisons with evolutionarily distant monkeys. Here, we present a detailed magnetic resonance imaging resource to study structural WM connectivity in the chimpanzee. This open-access resource contains (1) WM reconstructions of a postmortem chimpanzee brain, using the highest-quality diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data yet acquired from great apes; (2) an optimized and validated method for high-quality fiber orientation reconstructions; and (3) major fiber tract segmentations for cross-species morphological comparisons. This dataset enabled us to identify phylogenetically relevant details of the chimpanzee connectome, and we anticipate that it will substantially contribute to understanding human brain evolution

Επιφανειακή ανατομία και υποφλοιώδεις συνδέσεις της προκινητικής και κινητικής χώρας

ΣΚΟΠΟΣ Σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής είναι η μελέτη της αρχιτεκτονικής, της μορφολογίας και της συσχετιστικής ανατομίας των δεματίων λευκής ουσίας που εμπλέκονται στη συνδεσιμότητα του κινητικού και προκινητικού φλοιού καθώς και της επικουρικής και προ-εκπικουρικής περιοχής. ΜΕΘΟΔΟΣ Τριάντα (30) ημισφαίρια υγειών ενηλίκων μονιμοποιημένα σε φορμόλη μελετήθηκαν με χρήση της μεθόδου παρασκευής της λευκής ουσίας κατά Klingler. Οι εν λόγω βήμα προς βήμα παρασκευές ολοκληρώθηκαν με κατεύθυνση από έξω προς τα έσω και από έσω προς τα έξω. ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΜΑΤΑ Αναζητήθηκε η υποφλοιώδης αρχιτεκτονική, η χωρική συσχέτιση και η συνδεσιμότητα τεσσάρων κυρίως μείζονων δεματίων: Α) Το ραχιαίο τμήμα του άνω επιμήκους δεματίου (SLF-I) ανευρέθηκε σταθερά στην έσω επιφάνεια του ημισφαιρίου να συνδέει το προσφηνοειδές λόβιο, την επικουρική και προ-επικουρική κινητική περιοχή. Β) Το Μετωπιαίο Επίμηκες Δεμάτιο(FLS) παρατηρήθηκε σταθερά ως μια πρόσθια συνέχεια του 2ου και 3ου τμήματος του άνω επιμήκους δεματίου(SLF II& SLF III). Το εν λόγω δεμάτιο συνδέει τον προκινητικό με τον προμετωπιαίο φλοιό. Γ) Το Μέτωπο-Κερκοφόρο Δεμάτιο (FCT) ένα ριπιδοειδές σύστημα ινών λευκής ουσίας, καταγράφηκε να συμμετέχει στη συνδεσιμότητα του προμετωπιαίου και προκινητικού φλοιού με την κεφαλή και το σώμα του κερκοφόρου πυρήνα. Δ) Το Φλοιο-καλυπτρικό δεμάτιο (CTT) ανευρέθηκε σταθερά να συνδέει τη μεσεγκεφαλική καλύπτρα με τον κινητικό/προκινητικό φλοιό και τον φλοιό της οπίσθιας κεντρικής έλικας. Κατά τις παρασκευές των εν λόγω δεματίων δεν παρατηρήθηκαν ημισφαιρικές ασυμμετρίες. Τέλος πρότυπα υποτμηματοποίησης προτάθηκαν για όλα τα δεμάτια. ΣΥΜΠΕΡΑΣΜΑΤΑ Η συνδεσιμότητα και η λειτουργική εξειδίκευση των κινητικών και προκινητικών περιοχών του ανθρώπινου εγκεφάλου παραμένει σε μεγάλο βαθμό ασαφής καθώς ο μεγαλύτερος όγκος πληροφοριών προέρχεται από μελέτες σε πειραματόζωα και δεσμιδογραφικές μελέτες. Χρησιμοποιώντας την τεχνική Παρασκευής της λευκής ουσίας κατά Klingler ως βασική μέθοδο διερεύνησης, η παρούσα μελέτη παρέχει δεδομένα και στοιχεία για την λεπτή ανατομία των σχετιζόμενων με τις παραπάνω περιοχές δεματίων.OBJECTIVE To reveal the intrinsic architecture, morphology and spatial relationship of the white matter pathways implicated in the connectivity of motor/premotor cortex and SMA/pre-SMA complex that remains vague to this day. METHODS Thirty normal, adult, formalin-fixed cerebral hemispheres were explored through the fiber micro- dissection technique. Lateral to medial and medial to lateral dissections were performed in a tandem manner and under the surgical microscope. RESULTS We traced the subcortical architecture, spatial relationships and axonal connectivity of four major pathways: a) the dorsal component of the SLF (SLF-I) was found to reside in the medial aspect of the hemisphere and seen to connect the precuneus with the SMA and pre-SMA complex, b) the Frontal Longitudinal System (FLS) was consistently encountered as the natural anterior continuation of the SLF- II and SLF-III and connected the premotor and prefrontal cortices c) the Fronto-caudate Tract (FCT),a fan-shaped tract, was documented to participate in the connectivity of the prefrontal and premotor cortices to the head and body of the caudate nucleus and d) the Cortico-tegmental Tract(CTT) was invariably recorded to subserve the connectivity of the tegmental area with the motor/premotor areas and fronto- parietal cortex. No hemispheric asymmetries were recorded for any of the implicated pathways. Sub- segmentation systems were also introduced for each of the aforementioned tracts. CONCLUSIONS The structural connectivity and functional specialization of motor and premotor areas in the human brain remains vague to this day as most of the available evidence derives either from animal or tractographic studies. By using the fiber-microdissection technique as our main method of investigation, we provide sound structural evidence on the delicate anatomy of the related white matter pathways

A Missing Connection: A Review of the Macrostructural Anatomy and Tractography of the Acoustic Radiation

The auditory system of mammals is dedicated to encoding, elaborating and transporting acoustic information from the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex. The acoustic radiation (AR) constitutes the thalamo-cortical projection of this system, conveying the auditory signals from the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) of the thalamus to the transverse temporal gyrus on the superior temporal lobe. While representing one of the major sensory pathways of the primate brain, the currently available anatomical information of this white matter bundle is quite limited in humans, thus constituting a notable omission in clinical and general studies on auditory processing and language perception. Tracing procedures in humans have restricted applications, and the in vivo reconstruction of this bundle using diffusion tractography techniques remains challenging. Hence, a more accurate and reliable reconstruction of the AR is necessary for understanding the neurobiological substrates supporting audition and language processing mechanisms in both health and disease. This review aims to unite available information on the macroscopic anatomy and topography of the AR in humans and non-human primates. Particular attention is brought to the anatomical characteristics that make this bundle difficult to reconstruct using non-invasive techniques, such as diffusion-based tractography. Open questions in the field and possible future research directions are discussed

Inferior Parietal Lobule Contributions to Visual Word Recognition

This study investigated how the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) contributes to visual word recognition. We used repetitive TMS to temporarily disrupt neural information processing in two anatomical fields of the IPL, namely, the angular (ANG) and supramarginal (SMG) gyri, and observed the effects on reading tasks that focused attention on either the meaning or sounds of written words. Relative to no TMS, stimulation of the left ANG selectively slowed responses in the meaning, but not sound, task, whereas stimulation of the left SMG affected responses in the sound, but not meaning, task. These results demonstrate that ANG and SMG doubly dissociate in their contributions to visual word recognition. We suggest that this functional division of labor may be understood in terms of the distinct patterns of cortico-cortical connectivity resulting in separable functional circuits

Association between motor planning and the frontoparietal network in children: An exploratory multimodal study

Objective: Evidence from adult literature shows the involvement of cortical grey matter areas of the frontoparietal lobe and the white matter bundle, the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in motor planning. This is yet to be confirmed in children. Method: A multimodal study was designed to probe the neurostructural basis of childhood motor planning. Behavioural (motor planning), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) data were acquired from 19 boys aged 8–11 years. Motor planning was assessed using the one and two colour sequences of the octagon task. The MRI data were preprocessed and analysed using FreeSurfer 6.0. Cortical thickness and cortical surface area were extracted from the caudal middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), precentral gyrus (PcG), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), superior parietal lobe (SPL) and the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) using the Desikan– Killiany atlas. The DWI data were preprocessed and analysed using ExploreDTI 4.8.6 and the white matter tract, the SLF was reconstructed. Results: Motor planning of the two colour sequence was associated with cortical thickness of the bilateral MFG and left SFG, PcG, IPL and SPL. The right SLF was related to motor planning for the two colour sequence as well as with the left cortical thickness of the SFG. Conclusion: Altogether, morphology within frontodorsal circuity, and the white matter bundles that support communication between them, may be associated with individual differences in childhood motor planning