Atlasing the frontal lobe connections and their variability due to age and education: a spherical deconvolution tractography study

K. Rojkova, E. Volle, M. Urbanski, F. Humbert, F. Dell’Acqua, M. Thiebaut de Schotten
Brain Struct Funct. 2015-02-15; 221(3): 1751-1766
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1001-3

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1. Brain Struct Funct. 2016 Apr;221(3):1751-66. doi: 10.1007/s00429-015-1001-3. Epub
2015 Feb 15.

Atlasing the frontal lobe connections and their variability due to age and
education: a spherical deconvolution tractography study.

Rojkova K(1)(2), Volle E(1), Urbanski M(1)(3), Humbert F(4), Dell’Acqua F(5),
Thiebaut de Schotten M(6)(7)(8).

Author information:
(1)CNRS UMR 7225, Inserm, UPMC-Paris6, UMR_S 1127, CRICM, GH Pitié-Salpêtrière,
75013, Paris, France.
(2)Natbrainlab, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France.
(3)Service de Médecine et de Réadaptation Gériatrique et Neurologique, Hôpitaux
de Saint-Maurice, Saint-Maurice, France.
(4)Centre de Neuroimagerie de Recherche CENIR, Groupe Hospitalier
Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
(5)Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Natbrainlab, King’s
College London, London, UK.
(6)CNRS UMR 7225, Inserm, UPMC-Paris6, UMR_S 1127, CRICM, GH Pitié-Salpêtrière,
75013, Paris, France. .
(7)Natbrainlab, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France.
.
(8)Natbrainlab, Sackler Institute of Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK. .

In neuroscience, there is a growing consensus that higher cognitive functions may
be supported by distributed networks involving different cerebral regions, rather
than by single brain areas. Communication within these networks is mediated by
white matter tracts and is particularly prominent in the frontal lobes for the
control and integration of information. However, the detailed mapping of frontal
connections remains incomplete, albeit crucial to an increased understanding of
these cognitive functions. Based on 47 high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging
datasets (age range 22-71 years), we built a statistical normative atlas of the
frontal lobe connections in stereotaxic space, using state-of-the-art spherical
deconvolution tractography. We dissected 55 tracts including U-shaped fibers. We
further characterized these tracts by measuring their correlation with age and
education level. We reported age-related differences in the microstructural
organization of several, specific frontal fiber tracts, but found no correlation
with education level. Future voxel-based analyses, such as voxel-based
morphometry or tract-based spatial statistics studies, may benefit from our atlas
by identifying the tracts and networks involved in frontal functions. Our atlas
will also build the capacity of clinicians to further understand the mechanisms
involved in brain recovery and plasticity, as well as assist clinicians in the
diagnosis of disconnection or abnormality within specific tracts of individual
patients with various brain diseases.

DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1001-3
PMID: 25682261 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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