Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 419, Issue 2, 29 May 2007, Pages 113-118
Neuroscience Letters

Fronto-striatal connections in the human brain: A probabilistic diffusion tractography study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2007.04.049Get rights and content

Abstract

Anatomical studies in animals have described multiple striatal circuits and suggested that sub-components of the striatum, although functionally related, project to distinct cortical areas. To date, anatomical investigations in humans have been limited by methodological constraints such that most of our knowledge of fronto-striatal networks relies on nonhuman primate studies. To better identify the fronto-striatal pathways in the human brain, we used Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography to reconstruct neural connections between the frontal cortex and the caudate nucleus and putamen in vivo. We demonstrate that the human caudate nucleus is interconnected with the prefrontal cortex, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, frontal eye fields, cerebellum and thalamus; the putamen is interconnected with the prefrontal cortex, primary motor area, primary somatosensory cortex, supplementary motor area, premotor area, cerebellum and thalamus. A connectivity-based seed classification analysis identified connections between the dorsolateral prefrontal areas (DLPFC) and the dorsal-posterior caudate nucleus and between the ventrolateral prefrontal areas (VLPFC) and the ventral-anterior caudate nucleus. For the putamen, connections exist between the supplementary motor area (SMA) and dorsal-posterior putamen while the premotor area projects to medial putamen, and the primary motor area to the lateral putamen. Identifying the anatomical organization of the fronto-striatal network has important implications for understanding basal ganglia function and associated disease processes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a REPRIC training award and doctoral scholarships from CRIR and FRSQ to S.E.L., and an NSERC grant to A.P. (RGPIN 37354-02).

Competing Interests Statement: The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

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