A Connectomic Atlas of the Human Cerebrum-Chapter 7: The Lateral Parietal Lobe

Functionality of arousal-regulating brain circuitry at rest predicts human cognitive abilities

Arousal state is regulated by subcortical neuromodulatory nuclei, such as locus coeruleus, which send wide-reaching projections to cortex. Whether higher-order cortical regions have the capacity to recruit neuromodulatory systems to aid cognition is unclear. Here, we hypothesized that select cortical regions activate the arousal system, which, in turn, modulates large-scale brain activity, creating a functional circuit predicting cognitive ability. We utilized the Human Connectome Project 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset (n = 149), acquired at rest with simultaneous eye tracking, along with extensive cognitive assessment for each subject. First, we discovered select frontoparietal cortical regions that drive large-scale spontaneous brain activity specifically via engaging the arousal system. Second, we show that the functionality of the arousal circuit driven by bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (associated with the default mode network) predicts subjects' cognitive abilities. This suggests that a cortical region that is typically associated with self-referential processing supports cognition by regulating the arousal system.

Functionality of arousal-regulating brain circuitry at rest predicts human cognitive abilities

Arousal state is regulated by subcortical neuromodulatory nuclei, such as locus coeruleus, which send wide-reaching projections to cortex. Whether higher-order cortical regions have the capacity to recruit neuromodulatory systems to aid cognition is unclear. Here, we hypothesized that select cortical regions activate the arousal system, which in turn modulates large-scale brain activity, creating a functional circuit predicting cognitive ability. We utilized the Human Connectome Project 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset (N=149), acquired at rest with simultaneous eye tracking, along with extensive cognitive assessment for each subject. First, we discovered select frontoparietal cortical regions that drive large-scale spontaneous brain activity specifically via engaging the arousal system. Second, we show that the functionality of the arousal circuit driven by bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (associated with the default mode network) predicts subjects' cognitive abilities. This suggests that a cortical region that is typically associated with self-referential processing supports cognition by regulating the arousal system.

A parcellation-based connectomic model of hemispatial neglect

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Hemispatial neglect is characterized by a reduced awareness to stimuli on the contralateral side. Current literature suggesting that damage to the right parietal lobe and attention networks may cause hemispatial neglect is conflicting and can be improved by investigating a connectomic model of the "neglect system" and the anatomical specificity of regions involved in it.

METHODS

A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of hemispatial neglect was used to identify regions associated with neglect. We applied parcellation schemes to these regions and performed diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) tractography to determine their connectivity. By overlaying neglect areas and maps of the attention networks, we studied the relationship between them.

RESULTS

The meta-analysis generated a list of 13 right hemisphere parcellations. These 13 neglect-related parcellations were predominantly linked by the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) throughout a fronto-parietal-temporal network. We found that the dorsal and ventral attention networks showed partial overlap with the neglect system and included various other higher-order networks.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide an anatomically specific connectomic model of the neurobehavioral substrates underlying hemispatial neglect. Our model suggests a fronto-parietal-temporal network linked via the SLF supports the functions impaired in neglect and implicates various higher-order networks which are not limited to the attention networks.

Parcellating the vertical associative fiber network of the temporoparietal area: Evidence from focused anatomic fiber dissections

Introduction

The connectivity of the temporoparietal (TP) region has been the subject of multiple anatomical and functional studies. Its role in high cognitive functions has been primarily correlated with long association fiber connections. As a major sensory integration hub, coactivation of areas within the TP requires a stream of short association fibers running between its subregions. The latter have been the subject of a small number of recent in vivo and cadaveric studies. This has resulted in limited understanding of this network and, in certain occasions, terminology ambiguity.

Research question

To systematically study the vertical parietal and temporoparietal short association fibers.

Material and methods

Thirteen normal, adult cadaveric hemispheres, were treated with the Klinger's freeze-thaw process and their subcortical anatomy was studied using the microdissection technique.

Results

Two separate fiber layers were identified. Superficially, directly beneath the cortical u-fibers, the Stratum proprium intraparietalis (SP) was seen connecting Superior Parietal lobule and Precuneal cortical areas to inferior cortical regions of the Parietal lobe, running deep to the Intraparietal sulcus. At the same dissection level, the IPL-TP fibers were identified as a bundle connecting the Inferior Parietal lobule with posterior Temporal cortical areas. At a deeper level, parallel to the Arcuate fasciculus fibers, the SPL-TP fibers were seen connecting the Superior Parietal lobule to posterior Temporal cortical areas.

Discussion and conclusion

To our knowledge this is the first cadaveric dissection study to comprehensively study and describe of the vertical association fibers of the temporoparietal region while proposing a universal terminology.

The connectivity of the human frontal pole cortex, and a theory of its involvement in exploit versus explore

The frontal pole is implicated in humans in whether to exploit resources versus explore alternatives. Effective connectivity, functional connectivity, and tractography were measured between six human frontal pole regions and for comparison 13 dorsolateral and dorsal prefrontal cortex regions, and the 360 cortical regions in the Human Connectome Project Multi-modal-parcellation atlas in 171 HCP participants. The frontal pole regions have effective connectivity with Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex regions, the Dorsal Prefrontal Cortex, both implicated in working memory; and with the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex reward/non-reward system. There is also connectivity with temporal lobe, inferior parietal, and posterior cingulate regions. Given this new connectivity evidence, and evidence from activations and damage, it is proposed that the frontal pole cortex contains autoassociation attractor networks that are normally stable in a short-term memory state, and maintain stability in the other prefrontal networks during stable exploitation of goals and strategies. However, if an input from the orbitofrontal or anterior cingulate cortex that expected reward, non-reward, or punishment is received, this destabilizes the frontal pole and thereby other prefrontal networks to enable exploration of competing alternative goals and strategies. The frontal pole connectivity with reward systems may be key in exploit versus explore.

Tumor location and neurocognitive function-Unravelling the association and identifying relevant anatomical substrates in intra-axial brain tumors

Background

Neurocognitive function is a key outcome indicator of therapy in brain tumors. Understanding the underlying anatomical substrates involved in domain function and the pathophysiological basis of dysfunction can help ameliorate the effects of therapy and tailor directed rehabilitative strategies.

Methods

Hundred adult diffuse gliomas were co-registered onto a common demographic-specific brain template to create tumor localization maps. Voxel-based lesion symptom (VLSM) technique was used to assign an association between individual voxels and neuropsychological dysfunction in various domains (attention and executive function (A & EF), language, memory, visuospatial/constructive abilities, and visuomotor speed). The probability maps thus generated were further co-registered to cortical and subcortical atlases. A permutation-based statistical testing method was used to evaluate the statistically and clinically significant anatomical parcels associated with domain dysfunction and to create heat maps.

Results

Neurocognition was affected in a high proportion of subjects (93%), with A & EF and memory being the most affected domains. Left-sided networks were implicated in patients with A & EF, memory, and language deficits with the perisylvian white matter tracts being the most common across domains. Visuospatial dysfunction was associated with lesions involving the right perisylvian cortical regions, whereas deficits in visuomotor speed were associated with lesions involving primary visual and motor output pathways.

Conclusions

Significant baseline neurocognitive deficits are prevalent in gliomas. These are multidomain and the perisylvian network especially on the left side seems to be very important, being implicated in dysfunction of many domains.

Temporal Electroencephalography Traits Dissociating Tactile Information and Cross-Modal Congruence Effects

To explore whether temporal electroencephalography (EEG) traits can dissociate the physical properties of touching objects and the congruence effects of cross-modal stimuli, we applied a machine learning approach to two major temporal domain EEG traits, event-related potential (ERP) and somatosensory evoked potential (SEP), for each anatomical brain region. During a task in which participants had to identify one of two material surfaces as a tactile stimulus, a photo image that matched ('congruent') or mismatched ('incongruent') the material they were touching was given as a visual stimulus. Electrical stimulation was applied to the median nerve of the right wrist to evoke SEP while the participants touched the material. The classification accuracies using ERP extracted in reference to the tactile/visual stimulus onsets were significantly higher than chance levels in several regions in both congruent and incongruent conditions, whereas SEP extracted in reference to the electrical stimulus onsets resulted in no significant classification accuracies. Further analysis based on current source signals estimated using EEG revealed brain regions showing significant accuracy across conditions, suggesting that tactile-based object recognition information is encoded in the temporal domain EEG trait and broader brain regions, including the premotor, parietal, and somatosensory areas.

Hierarchical organization of the human ventral visual streams revealed with magnetoencephalography

The hierarchical organization between 25 ventral stream visual cortical regions and 180 cortical regions was measured with magnetoencephalography using the Human Connectome Project Multimodal Parcellation atlas in 83 Human Connectome Project participants performing a visual memory task. The aim was to reveal the hierarchical organization using a whole-brain model based on generative effective connectivity with this fast neuroimaging method. V1-V4 formed a first group of interconnected regions. Especially V4 had connectivity to a ventrolateral visual stream: V8, the fusiform face cortex, and posterior inferior temporal cortex PIT. These regions in turn had effectivity connectivity to inferior temporal cortex visual regions TE2p and TE1p. TE2p and TE1p then have connectivity to anterior temporal lobe regions TE1a, TE1m, TE2a, and TGv, which are multimodal. In a ventromedial visual stream, V1-V4 connect to ventromedial regions VMV1-3 and VVC. VMV1-3 and VVC connect to the medial parahippocampal gyrus PHA1-3, which, with the VMV regions, include the parahippocampal scene area. The medial parahippocampal PHA1-3 regions have connectivity to the hippocampal system regions the perirhinal cortex, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus. These effective connectivities of two ventral visual cortical streams measured with magnetoencephalography provide support to the hierarchical organization of brain systems measured with fMRI, and new evidence on directionality.

Modular architecture and resilience of structural covariance networks in first-episode antipsychotic-naive psychoses

Structural covariance network (SCN) studies on first-episode antipsychotic-naïve psychosis (FEAP) have examined less granular parcellations on one morphometric feature reporting lower network resilience among other findings. We examined SCNs of volume, cortical thickness, and surface area using the Human Connectome Project atlas-based parcellation (n = 358 regions) from 79 FEAP and 68 controls to comprehensively characterize the networks using a descriptive and perturbational network neuroscience approach. Using graph theoretical methods, we examined network integration, segregation, centrality, community structure, and hub distribution across the small-worldness threshold range and correlated them with psychopathology severity. We used simulated nodal "attacks" (removal of nodes and all their edges) to investigate network resilience, calculated DeltaCon similarity scores, and contrasted the removed nodes to characterize the impact of simulated attacks. Compared to controls, FEAP SCN showed higher betweenness centrality (BC) and lower degree in all three morphometric features and disintegrated with fewer attacks with no change in global efficiency. SCNs showed higher similarity score at the first point of disintegration with ≈ 54% top-ranked BC nodes attacked. FEAP communities consisted of fewer prefrontal, auditory and visual regions. Lower BC, and higher clustering and degree, were associated with greater positive and negative symptom severity. Negative symptoms required twice the changes in these metrics. Globally sparse but locally dense network with more nodes of higher centrality in FEAP could result in higher communication cost compared to controls. FEAP network disintegration with fewer attacks suggests lower resilience without impacting efficiency. Greater network disarray underlying negative symptom severity possibly explains the therapeutic challenge.

Auditory cortical connectivity in humans

To understand auditory cortical processing, the effective connectivity between 15 auditory cortical regions and 360 cortical regions was measured in 171 Human Connectome Project participants, and complemented with functional connectivity and diffusion tractography. 1. A hierarchy of auditory cortical processing was identified from Core regions (including A1) to Belt regions LBelt, MBelt, and 52; then to PBelt; and then to HCP A4. 2. A4 has connectivity to anterior temporal lobe TA2, and to HCP A5, which connects to dorsal-bank superior temporal sulcus (STS) regions STGa, STSda, and STSdp. These STS regions also receive visual inputs about moving faces and objects, which are combined with auditory information to help implement multimodal object identification, such as who is speaking, and what is being said. Consistent with this being a "what" ventral auditory stream, these STS regions then have effective connectivity to TPOJ1, STV, PSL, TGv, TGd, and PGi, which are language-related semantic regions connecting to Broca's area, especially BA45. 3. A4 and A5 also have effective connectivity to MT and MST, which connect to superior parietal regions forming a dorsal auditory "where" stream involved in actions in space. Connections of PBelt, A4, and A5 with BA44 may form a language-related dorsal stream.

Hippocampal spatial view cells for memory and navigation, and their underlying connectivity in humans

Hippocampal and parahippocampal gyrus spatial view neurons in primates respond to the spatial location being looked at. The representation is allocentric, in that the responses are to locations "out there" in the world, and are relatively invariant with respect to retinal position, eye position, head direction, and the place where the individual is located. The underlying connectivity in humans is from ventromedial visual cortical regions to the parahippocampal scene area, leading to the theory that spatial view cells are formed by combinations of overlapping feature inputs self-organized based on their closeness in space. Thus, although spatial view cells represent "where" for episodic memory and navigation, they are formed by ventral visual stream feature inputs in the parahippocampal gyrus in what is the parahippocampal scene area. A second "where" driver of spatial view cells are parietal inputs, which it is proposed provide the idiothetic update for spatial view cells, used for memory recall and navigation when the spatial view details are obscured. Inferior temporal object "what" inputs and orbitofrontal cortex reward inputs connect to the human hippocampal system, and in macaques can be associated in the hippocampus with spatial view cell "where" representations to implement episodic memory. Hippocampal spatial view cells also provide a basis for navigation to a series of viewed landmarks, with the orbitofrontal cortex reward inputs to the hippocampus providing the goals for navigation, which can then be implemented by hippocampal connectivity in humans to parietal cortex regions involved in visuomotor actions in space. The presence of foveate vision and the highly developed temporal lobe for object and scene processing in primates including humans provide a basis for hippocampal spatial view cells to be key to understanding episodic memory in the primate and human hippocampus, and the roles of this system in primate including human navigation.

Intraoperative awake language mapping correlates to preoperative connectomics imaging: An instructive case

Connectomics enables the study of structural-functional relationships in the brain, and machine learning technologies have enabled connectome maps to be developed for individual brain tumor patients. We report our experience using connectomics to plan and guide an awake craniotomy for a tumor impinging on the language area. Preoperative connectomics imaging demonstrated proximity of the tumor to parcellations of the language area. Intraoperative awake language mapping was performed, revealing speech arrest and paraphasic errors at areas of the tumor boundary correlating to functional regions that explained these findings. This instructive case highlights the potential benefits of implementing connectomics into neurosurgical planning.

The human posterior parietal cortex: effective connectome, and its relation to function

The effective connectivity between 21 regions in the human posterior parietal cortex, and 360 cortical regions was measured in 171 Human Connectome Project (HCP) participants using the HCP atlas, and complemented with functional connectivity and diffusion tractography. Intraparietal areas LIP, VIP, MIP, and AIP have connectivity from early cortical visual regions, and to visuomotor regions such as the frontal eye fields, consistent with functions in eye saccades and tracking. Five superior parietal area 7 regions receive from similar areas and from the intraparietal areas, but also receive somatosensory inputs and connect with premotor areas including area 6, consistent with functions in performing actions to reach for, grasp, and manipulate objects. In the anterior inferior parietal cortex, PFop, PFt, and PFcm are mainly somatosensory, and PF in addition receives visuo-motor and visual object information, and is implicated in multimodal shape and body image representations. In the posterior inferior parietal cortex, PFm and PGs combine visuo-motor, visual object, and reward input and connect with the hippocampal system. PGi in addition provides a route to motion-related superior temporal sulcus regions involved in social interactions. PGp has connectivity with intraparietal regions involved in coordinate transforms and may be involved in idiothetic update of hippocampal visual scene representations.

Proprioception: A New Era Set in Motion by Emerging Genetic and Bionic Strategies?

The generation of an internal body model and its continuous update is essential in sensorimotor control. Although known to rely on proprioceptive sensory feedback, the underlying mechanism that transforms this sensory feedback into a dynamic body percept remains poorly understood. However, advances in the development of genetic tools for proprioceptive circuit elements, including the sensory receptors, are beginning to offer new and unprecedented leverage to dissect the central pathways responsible for proprioceptive encoding. Simultaneously, new data derived through emerging bionic neural machine-interface technologies reveal clues regarding the relative importance of kinesthetic sensory feedback and insights into the functional proprioceptive substrates that underlie natural motor behaviors.

Prefrontal and somatosensory-motor cortex effective connectivity in humans

Effective connectivity, functional connectivity, and tractography were measured between 57 cortical frontal and somatosensory regions and the 360 cortical regions in the Human Connectome Project (HCP) multimodal parcellation atlas for 171 HCP participants. A ventral somatosensory stream connects from 3b and 3a via 1 and 2 and then via opercular and frontal opercular regions to the insula, which then connects to inferior parietal PF regions. This stream is implicated in "what"-related somatosensory processing of objects and of the body and in combining with visual inputs in PF. A dorsal "action" somatosensory stream connects from 3b and 3a via 1 and 2 to parietal area 5 and then 7. Inferior prefrontal regions have connectivity with the inferior temporal visual cortex and orbitofrontal cortex, are implicated in working memory for "what" processing streams, and provide connectivity to language systems, including 44, 45, 47l, TPOJ1, and superior temporal visual area. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions that include area 46 have connectivity with parietal area 7 and somatosensory inferior parietal regions and are implicated in working memory for actions and planning. The dorsal prefrontal regions, including 8Ad and 8Av, have connectivity with visual regions of the inferior parietal cortex, including PGs and PGi, and are implicated in visual and auditory top-down attention.

Joint impact on attention, alertness and inhibition of lesions at a frontal white matter crossroad

In everyday life, information from different cognitive domains - such as visuospatial attention, alertness, and inhibition - needs to be integrated between different brain regions. Early models suggested that completely segregated brain networks control these three cognitive domains. However, more recent accounts, mainly based on neuroimaging data in healthy participants, indicate that different tasks lead to specific patterns of activation within the same, higher-order and "multiple-demand" network. If so, then a lesion to critical substrates of this common network should determine a concomitant impairment in all three cognitive domains. The aim of the present study was to critically investigate this hypothesis, i.e., to identify focal stroke lesions within the network that can concomitantly impact visuospatial attention, alertness and inhibition. We studied an unselected sample of 60 first-ever right-hemispheric, subacute stroke patients using a data-driven, bottom-up approach. Patients performed 12 standardized neuropsychological and oculomotor tests, four per cognitive domain. Principal component analyses revealed a strong relationship between all three cognitive domains: 10 of 12 tests loaded on a first, Common Component. Analysis of the neuroanatomical lesion correlates using different approaches (i.e., Voxel-Based and Tractwise Lesion-Symptom Mapping, Disconnectome maps) provided convergent evidence on the association between severe impairment of this Common Component and lesions at the intersection of Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus II and III, Frontal Aslant Tract and, to a lesser extent, the Putamen and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus. Moreover, patients with a lesion involving this region were significantly more impaired in daily living cognition, which provides an ecological validation of our results. A probabilistic functional atlas of the multiple-demand network was performed to confirm the potential relationship between patients' lesion substrates and observed cognitive impairments as a function of the MD-network connectivity disruption. These findings show, for the first time, that a lesion to a specific white matter crossroad can determine a concurrent breakdown in all three considered cognitive domains. Our results support the multiple-demand network model, proposing that different cognitive operations depend on specific collaborators and their interaction, within the same underlying neural network. Our findings also extend this hypothesis by showing (1) the contribution of SLF and FAT to the multiple-demand network, and (2) a critical neuroanatomical intersection, crossed by a vast amount of long-range white matter tracts, many of which interconnect cortical areas of the multiple-demand network. The vulnerability of this crossroad to stroke has specific cognitive and clinical consequences; this has the potential to influence future rehabilitative approaches.

Multiple cortical visual streams in humans

The effective connectivity between 55 visual cortical regions and 360 cortical regions was measured in 171 HCP participants using the HCP-MMP atlas, and complemented with functional connectivity and diffusion tractography. A Ventrolateral Visual "What" Stream for object and face recognition projects hierarchically to the inferior temporal visual cortex, which projects to the orbitofrontal cortex for reward value and emotion, and to the hippocampal memory system. A Ventromedial Visual "Where" Stream for scene representations connects to the parahippocampal gyrus and hippocampus. An Inferior STS (superior temporal sulcus) cortex Semantic Stream receives from the Ventrolateral Visual Stream, from visual inferior parietal PGi, and from the ventromedial-prefrontal reward system and connects to language systems. A Dorsal Visual Stream connects via V2 and V3A to MT+ Complex regions (including MT and MST), which connect to intraparietal regions (including LIP, VIP and MIP) involved in visual motion and actions in space. It performs coordinate transforms for idiothetic update of Ventromedial Stream scene representations. A Superior STS cortex Semantic Stream receives visual inputs from the Inferior STS Visual Stream, PGi, and STV, and auditory inputs from A5, is activated by face expression, motion and vocalization, and is important in social behaviour, and connects to language systems.

A connectivity model of the anatomic substrates underlying Gerstmann syndrome

The Gerstmann syndrome is a constellation of neurological deficits that include agraphia, acalculia, left–right discrimination and finger agnosia. Despite a growing interest in this clinical phenomenon, there remains controversy regarding the specific neuroanatomic substrates involved. Advancements in data-driven, computational modelling provides an opportunity to create a unified cortical model with greater anatomic precision based on underlying structural and functional connectivity across complex cognitive domains. A literature search was conducted for healthy task-based functional MRI and PET studies for the four cognitive domains underlying Gerstmann’s tetrad using the electronic databases PubMed, Medline, and BrainMap Sleuth (2.4). Coordinate-based, meta-analytic software was utilized to gather relevant regions of interest from included studies to create an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) map for each cognitive domain. Machine-learning was used to match activated regions of the ALE to the corresponding parcel from the cortical parcellation scheme previously published under the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Diffusion spectrum imaging-based tractography was performed to determine the structural connectivity between relevant parcels in each domain on 51 healthy subjects from the HCP database. Ultimately 102 functional MRI studies met our inclusion criteria. A frontoparietal network was found to be involved in the four cognitive domains: calculation, writing, finger gnosis, and left–right orientation. There were three parcels in the left hemisphere, where the ALE of at least three cognitive domains were found to be overlapping, specifically the anterior intraparietal area, area 7 postcentral (7PC) and the medial intraparietal sulcus. These parcels surround the anteromedial portion of the intraparietal sulcus. Area 7PC was found to be involved in all four domains. These regions were extensively connected in the intraparietal sulcus, as well as with a number of surrounding large-scale brain networks involved in higher-order functions. We present a tractographic model of the four neural networks involved in the functions which are impaired in Gerstmann syndrome. We identified a ‘Gerstmann Core’ of extensively connected functional regions where at least three of the four networks overlap. These results provide clinically actionable and precise anatomic information which may help guide clinical translation in this region, such as during resective brain surgery in or near the intraparietal sulcus, and provides an empiric basis for future study.

OUP accepted manuscript

Neuralgic amyotrophy is a common peripheral nerve disorder caused by autoimmune inflammation of the brachial plexus, clinically characterized by acute pain and weakness of the shoulder muscles, followed by motor impairment. Despite recovery of the peripheral nerves, patients often have residual motor dysfunction of the upper extremity, leading to persistent pain related to altered biomechanics of the shoulder region. Building on clinical signs that suggest a role for cerebral mechanisms in these residual complaints, here we show and characterize cerebral alterations following neuralgic amyotrophy. Neuralgic amyotrophy patients often develop alternative motor strategies, which suggests that (mal)adaptations may occur in somatomotor and/or visuomotor brain areas. Here, we tested where changes in cerebral sensorimotor representations occur in neuralgic amyotrophy, while controlling for altered motor execution due to peripheral neuropathy. We additionally explore the relation between potential cerebral alterations in neuralgic amyotrophy and clinical symptoms. During functional MRI scanning, 39 neuralgic amyotrophy patients with persistent, lateralized symptoms in the right upper extremity and 23 matched healthy participants solved a hand laterality judgement task that can activate sensorimotor representations of the upper extremity, across somatomotor and visuomotor brain areas. Behavioural and cerebral responses confirmed the involvement of embodied, sensorimotor processes across groups. Compared with healthy participants, neuralgic amyotrophy patients were slower in hand laterality judgement and had decreased cerebral activity specific to their affected limb in two higher-order visual brain regions: the right extrastriate cortex and the parieto-occipital sulcus. Exploratory analyses revealed that across patients, extrastriate activity specific to the affected limb decreased as persistent pain increased, and affected limb-related parieto-occipital activity decreased as imagery performance of the affected limb became slower. These findings suggest that maladaptive cerebral plasticity in visuomotor areas involved in sensorimotor integration plays a role in residual motor dysfunction and subsequent persistent pain in neuralgic amyotrophy. Rehabilitation interventions that apply visuomotor strategies to improve sensorimotor integration may help to treat neuralgic amyotrophy patients.

Cortical gyrification in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and prenatal alcohol exposure

BACKGROUND

An improved understanding of the neurodevelopmental differences between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without prenatal alcohol exposure (ADHD + PAE and ADHD-PAE, respectively) is needed. Herein, we evaluated gyrification (cortical folding) in children with ADHD + PAE compared to that in children with familial ADHD-PAE and typically developing (TD) children.

METHODS

ADHD + PAE (n = 37), ADHD-PAE (n = 25), and TD children (n = 27), aged 8-13 years, were compared on facial morphological, neurobehavioral, and neuroimaging assessments. Local gyrification index (LGI) maps were compared between groups using general linear modelling. Relationships between LGI and clincobehavioral parameters in children with ADHD ± PAE were evaluated using multivariate partial least squares.

RESULTS

ADHD + PAE and ADHD-PAE groups showed significantly lower LGI (relative to TD) in numerous regions, overlapping in medial prefrontal, parietal, and temporo-occipital cortices (p < 0.001). However, LGI in left mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was uniquely lower in the ADHD + PAE group (p < 0.001). Partial least squares analysis identified one significant latent variable (accounting for 59.3 % of the crossblock correlation, p < 0.001), reflecting a significant relationship between a profile of lower LGI in prefrontal (including left mid-dorsolateral), insular, cingulate, temporal, and parietal cortices and a clinicobehavioral profile of PAE, including a flat philtrum and upper vermillion border, lower IQ, poorer behavioral regulation scores, and greater hyperactivity/impulsivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Children with ADHD + PAE uniquely demonstrate lower mid-dorsolateral LGI, with widespread lower LGI related to more severe facial dysmorphia and neurobehavioral impairments. These findings add insight into the brain bases of PAE symptoms, potentially informing more targeted ADHD treatments based on an objective differential diagnosis of ADHD + PAE vs. ADHD-PAE.

Unexpected hubness: a proof-of-concept study of the human connectome using pagerank centrality and implications for intracerebral neurosurgery

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the human connectome by parcellations allows neurosurgeons to foretell the potential effects of lesioning parts of the brain during intracerebral surgery. However, it is unclear whether there exist variations among individuals such that brain regions that are thought to be dispensable may serve as important networking hubs.

METHODS

We obtained diffusion neuroimaging data from two healthy cohorts (OpenNeuro and SchizConnect) and applied a parcellation scheme to them. We ranked the parcellations on average using PageRank centrality in each cohort. Using the OpenNeuro cohort, we focused on parcellations in the lower 50% ranking that displayed top quartile ranking at the individual level. We then queried whether these select parcellations with over 3% prevalence would be reproducible in the same manner in the SchizConnect cohort.

RESULTS

In the OpenNeuro (n = 68) and SchizConnect cohort (n = 195), there were 27.9% and 43.1% of parcellations, respectively, in the lower half of all ranks that displayed top quartile ranks. We noted three outstanding parcellations (L_V6, L_a10p, and L_7PL) in the OpenNeuro cohort that also appeared in the SchizConnect cohort. In the larger Schizconnect cohort, L_V6, L_a10p, and L_7PL had unexpected hubness in 3.08%, 5.13%, and 8.21% of subjects, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrated that lowly-ranked parcellations may serve as important hubs in a subset of individuals, highlighting the importance of studying parcellation ranks at the personalized level in planning supratentorial neurosurgery.

A parcellation-based model of the auditory network

INTRODUCTION

The auditory network plays an important role in interaction with the environment. Multiple cortical areas, such as the inferior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and adjacent insula have been implicated in this processing. However, understanding of this network's connectivity has been devoid of tractography specificity.

METHODS

Using attention task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) of the auditory network was generated. Regions of interest corresponding to the cortical parcellation scheme previously published under the Human Connectome Project were co-registered onto the ALE in the Montreal Neurological Institute coordinate space, and visually assessed for inclusion in the network. Diffusion spectrum MRI-based fiber tractography was performed to determine the structural connections between cortical parcellations comprising the network.

RESULTS

Fifteen cortical regions were found to be part of the auditory network: areas 44 and 8C, auditory area 1, 4, and 5, frontal operculum area 4, the lateral belt, medial belt and parabelt, parietal area F centromedian, perisylvian language area, retroinsular cortex, supplementary and cingulate eye field and the temporoparietal junction area 1. These regions showed consistent interconnections between adjacent parcellations. The frontal aslant tract was found to connect areas within the frontal lobe, while the arcuate fasciculus was found to connect the frontal and temporal lobe, and subcortical U-fibers were found to connect parcellations within the temporal area. Further studies may refine this model with the ultimate goal of clinical application.

Glutamatergic modulation of auditory cortex connectivity with attentional brain networks in unpredictable perceptual environment

In a stable environment the brain can minimize processing required for sensory input by forming a predictive model of the surrounding world and suppressing neural response to predicted stimuli. Unpredicted stimuli lead to a prediction error signal propagation through the perceptual network, and resulting adjustment to the predictive model. The inter-regional plasticity which enables the model-building and model-adjustment is hypothesized to be mediated via glutamatergic receptors. While pharmacological challenge studies with glutamate receptor ligands have demonstrated impact on prediction-error indices, it is not clear how inter-individual differences in the glutamate system affect the prediction-error processing in non-medicated state. In the present study we examined 20 healthy young subjects with resting-state proton MRS spectroscopy to characterize glutamate + glutamine (rs-Glx) levels in their Heschl’s gyrus (HG), and related this to HG functional connectivity during a roving auditory oddball protocol. No rs-Glx effects were found within the frontotemporal prediction-error network. Larger rs-Glx signal was related to stronger connectivity between HG and bilateral inferior parietal lobule during unpredictable auditory stimulation. We also found effects of rs-Glx on the coherence of default mode network and frontoparietal network during unpredictable auditory stimulation. Our results demonstrate the importance of Glx in modulating long-range connections and wider networks in the brain during perceptual inference.

The cortical organization of language: distilling human connectome insights for supratentorial neurosurgery

Connectomics is the production and study of detailed "connection" maps within the nervous system. With unprecedented advances in imaging and high-performance computing, the construction of individualized connectomes for routine neurosurgical use is on the horizon. Multiple projects, including the Human Connectome Project (HCP), have unraveled new and exciting data describing the functional and structural connectivity of the brain. However, the abstraction from much of these data to clinical relevance remains elusive. In the context of preserving neurological function after supratentorial surgery, abstracting surgically salient points from the vast computational data in connectomics is of paramount importance. Herein, the authors discuss four interesting observations from the HCP data that have surgical relevance, with an emphasis on the cortical organization of language: 1) the existence of a motor speech area outside of Broca's area, 2) the eloquence of the frontal aslant tract, 3) the explanation of the medial frontal cognitive control networks, and 4) the establishment of the second ventral stream of language processing. From these connectome observations, the authors discuss the anatomical basis of their insights as well as relevant clinical applications. Together, these observations provide a firm platform for neurosurgeons to advance their knowledge of the cortical networks involved in language and to ultimately improve surgical outcomes. It is hoped that this report encourages neurosurgeons to explore new vistas in connectome-based neurosurgery.

Beyond eloquence and onto centrality: a new paradigm in planning supratentorial neurosurgery

PURPOSE

Minimizing post-operational neurological deficits as a result of brain surgery has been one of the most pertinent endeavours of neurosurgical research. Studies have utilised fMRIs, EEGs and MEGs in order to delineate and establish eloquent areas, however, these methods have not been utilized by the wider neurosurgical community due to a lack of clinical endpoints. We sought to ascertain if there is a correlation between graph theory metrics and the neurosurgical notion of eloquent brain regions. We also wanted to establish which graph theory based nodal centrality measure performs the best in predicting eloquent areas.

METHODS

We obtained diffusion neuroimaging data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and applied a parcellation scheme to it. This enabled us to construct a weighted adjacency matrix which we then analysed. Our analysis looked at the correlation between PageRank centrality and eloquent areas. We then compared PageRank centrality to eigenvector centrality and degree centrality to see what the best measure of empirical neurosurgical eloquence was.

RESULTS

Areas that are considered neurosurgically eloquent tended to be predicted by high PageRank centrality. By using summary scores for the three nodal centrality measures we found that PageRank centrality best correlated to empirical neurosurgical eloquence.

CONCLUSION

The notion of eloquent areas is important to neurosurgery and graph theory provides a mathematical framework to predict these areas. PageRank centrality is able to consistently find areas that we consider eloquent. It is able to do so better than eigenvector and degree central measures.