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. 2011;1(2):111-8.
doi: 10.1089/brain.2011.0011.

Anatomical connectivity between subcortical structures

Kyle Taljan  1 , Cameron McIntyre, Ken Sakaie
Affiliations

Anatomical connectivity between subcortical structures

Kyle Taljan et al. Brain Connect. 2011.

Abstract

Understanding anatomical connectivity is crucial for improving outcomes of deep brain stimulation surgery. Tractography is a promising method for noninvasively investigating anatomical connectivity, but connections between subcortical regions have not been closely examined by this method. As many connections to subcortical regions converge at the internal capsule (IC), we investigate the connectivity through the IC to three subcortical nuclei (caudate, lentiform nucleus, and thalamus) in six macaques. We show that a statistical correction for a known distance-related artifact in tractography results in large changes in connectivity patterns. Our results suggest that care should be taken in using tractography to assess anatomical connectivity between subcortical structures.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Example of manual ROIs drawn on an FA map. (A) The FA map with labeled arrows pointing to the IC, caudate, LN, and thalamus. (B) The color FA image, and (C) the ROIs drawn on this slice. ROI, region of interest; FA, fractional anisotropy; IC, internal capsule; LN, lentiform nucleus.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Overall impact of Morris correction on profile of connections from caudate through the IC. (A) shows the null distribution map. (B) and (C) show connection profiles before and after the correction, respectively.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Effect of Morris correction on connectivity between IC and caudate. (A) Fractional anisotropy image indicating location of the caudate (single arrow) and IC (double arrow). Connectivity (B) without and (C) with correction.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
Effect of Morris correction on connectivity between the IC and LN. (A) Fractional anisotropy image, indicating location of the LN (single arrow) and IC (double arrow). Connectivity (B) without and (C) with correction.
FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.
Effect of Morris correction on connectivity between the IC and thalamus. (A) Fractional anisotropy image indicating location of the thalamus (single arrow) and IC (double arrow). Connectivity (B) without and (C) with correction.
FIG. 6.
FIG. 6.
Connectivity maps after the Morris correction for all three structures across all six studies. The top row (A) shows connectivity profiles between IC and caudate, the middle row (B) profiles between IC and LN, and the bottom row (C) between IC and thalamus. Across the three structures we observe regions in the IC with no significant connections.
FIG. 7.
FIG. 7.
Impact of correction on hard segmentation across the six studies. Of the three target structures green regions had the highest probability of connection to caudate, and purple and blue to LN and thalamus, respectively. The top row (A) shows segmentation before the correction, and the bottom row (B) after correction. Many voxels in the IC change classification because of the correction, and although patterns seem similar in the top and bottom row, it is not clear how the Morris correction impacted results.
FIG. 8.
FIG. 8.
Comparison of hard segmentation (A) with connectivity profiles for caudate (B), LN (C), and thalamus (D). The arrow indicates a region most connected to thalamus, but which is also highly connected to caudate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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