A diffusion tensor imaging tractography atlas for virtual in vivo dissections

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography allows perform virtual dissections of white matter pathways in the living human brain. In 2002, Catani et al. published a method to reconstruct white matter pathways using a region of interest (ROI) approach. The method produced virtual representations of white matter tracts faithful to classical post-mortem descriptions but it required detailed a priori anatomical knowledge. Here, using the same approach, we provide a template to guide the delineation of ROIs for the reconstruction of the association, projection and commissural pathways of the living human brain. The template can be used for single case studies and case-control comparisons. An atlas of the 3D reconstructions of the single tracts is also provided as anatomical reference in the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) space.