Anatomical insights into the superior longitudinal system from integrative in- vivo and ex-vivo mapping
Commun Biol. 2025-09-01; 8(1):
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-08774-6
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https://www.bordeaux-neurocampus.fr/12648
1. Commun Biol. 2025 Sep 1;8(1):1328. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08774-6.
Anatomical insights into the superior longitudinal system from integrative in-
vivo and ex-vivo mapping.
Vavassori L(1)(2), Rheault F(3), Avesani P(4), De Benedictis A(5), Corsini F(6),
Annicchiarico L(6), Zigiotto L(6)(7), Rozzanigo U(8), Barbareschi M(9)(10),
Petit L(11), Sarubbo S(6)(12)(10)(13).
Author information:
(1)Department of Neurosurgery, « S. Chiara » University-Hospital, Azienda
Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy. .
(2)Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
.
(3)Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Laboratory (SCIL), Department of Computer
Science, Faculty of Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
(4)Neuroinformatics Laboratory (NiLab), Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Trento,
Italy.
(5)Neurosurgery Unit, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
(6)Department of Neurosurgery, « S. Chiara » University-Hospital, Azienda
Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy.
(7)Department of Psychology, « S. Chiara » University-Hospital, Azienda
Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy.
(8)Department of Radiology, « S. Chiara » University-Hospital, Azienda Provinciale
per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy.
(9)Department of Laboratory Medicine-Pathology Unit, « S. Chiara »
University-Hospital, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy.
(10)Centre for Medical Sciences (CISMED), University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
(11)Groupe d’Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle, Institut des Maladies
Neurodégénératives (GIN-IMN), UMR5293, CNRS, CEA, University of Bordeaux,
Bordeaux, France.
(12)Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
(13)Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative Biology (CIBIO),
University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
Charting the organization of white matter (WM) pathways is essential for
understanding the functioning of the human brain. This study provides a
comprehensive, anatomically enhanced characterization of the superior
longitudinal system (SLS) by integrating in-vivo tractography with ex-vivo
dissection within the same radiological space. Using a data-driven
cortex-to-cortex pairing approach leveraging gyral-sulcal macroanatomical
landmarks, we reconstructed the dorsal associative connectivity of the frontal
cortex in 39 healthy participants. We identified 45 SLS components, of which (i)
22 were validated and refined through ex-vivo dissection, (ii) 17 were deemed
anatomically plausible despite lacking ex-vivo confirmation, and (iii) 6 were
classified as anatomically implausible. The anatomical description of plausible
sub-SLS templates revealed fundamental organizational principles of the system:
(i) a medio-lateral and dorso-ventral hierarchy, where dorsal regions connect
dorsally and ventral regions ventrally, and (ii) a depth-dependent organization,
with shorter, superficial fibers linking proximal areas and longer, deeper
fibers connecting distal regions. Pearson’s correlation confirmed a significant
positive relationship between streamline length and distance from the cortex
(r = 0.689, p