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Funk AT, Hassan AAO, Waugh JL. In humans, insulo-striate structural connectivity is largely biased toward either striosome-like or matrix-like striatal compartments. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.07.588409. [PMID: 38645229 PMCID: PMC11030402 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.07.588409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
The insula is an integral component of sensory, motor, limbic, and executive functions, and insular dysfunction is associated with numerous human neuropsychiatric disorders. Insular afferents project widely, but insulo-striate projections are especially numerous. The targets of these insulo-striate projections are organized into tissue compartments, the striosome and matrix. These striatal compartments have distinct embryologic origins, afferent and efferent connectivity, dopamine pharmacology, and susceptibility to injury. Striosome and matrix appear to occupy separate sets of cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loops, so a bias in insulo-striate projections towards one compartment may also embed an insular subregion in distinct regulatory and functional networks. Compartment-specific mapping of insulo-striate structural connectivity is sparse; the insular subregions are largely unmapped for compartment-specific projections. In 100 healthy adults, we utilized probabilistic diffusion tractography to map and quantify structural connectivity between 19 structurally-defined insular subregions and each striatal compartment. Insulo-striate streamlines that reached striosome-like and matrix-like voxels were concentrated in distinct insular zones (striosome: rostro- and caudoventral; matrix: caudodorsal) and followed different paths to reach the striatum. Though tractography was generated independently in each hemisphere, the spatial distribution and relative bias of striosome-like and matrix-like streamlines were highly similar in the left and right insula. 16 insular subregions were significantly biased towards one compartment: seven toward striosome-like voxels and nine toward matrix-like voxels. Striosome-favoring bundles had significantly higher streamline density, especially from rostroventral insular subregions. The biases in insulo-striate structural connectivity we identified mirrored the compartment-specific biases identified in prior studies that utilized injected tract tracers, cytoarchitecture, or functional MRI. Segregating insulo-striate structural connectivity through either striosome or matrix may be an anatomic substrate for functional specialization among the insular subregions.
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Affiliation(s)
- AT Funk
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX
| | - AAO Hassan
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas
| | - JL Waugh
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA
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Funk AT, Hassan AAO, Brüggemann N, Sharma N, Breiter HC, Blood AJ, Waugh JL. In humans, striato-pallido-thalamic projections are largely segregated by their origin in either the striosome-like or matrix-like compartments. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1178473. [PMID: 37954873 PMCID: PMC10634229 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1178473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) loops are fundamental organizing units in mammalian brains. CSTCs process limbic, associative, and sensorimotor information in largely separated but interacting networks. CTSC loops pass through paired striatal compartments, striosome (aka patch) and matrix, segregated pools of medium spiny projection neurons with distinct embryologic origins, cortical/subcortical structural connectivity, susceptibility to injury, and roles in behaviors and diseases. Similarly, striatal dopamine modulates activity in striosome and matrix in opposite directions. Routing CSTCs through one compartment may be an anatomical basis for regulating discrete functions. We used differential structural connectivity, identified through probabilistic diffusion tractography, to distinguish the striatal compartments (striosome-like and matrix-like voxels) in living humans. We then mapped compartment-specific projections and quantified structural connectivity between each striatal compartment, the globus pallidus interna (GPi), and 20 thalamic nuclei in 221 healthy adults. We found that striosome-originating and matrix-originating streamlines were segregated within the GPi: striosome-like connectivity was significantly more rostral, ventral, and medial. Striato-pallido-thalamic streamline bundles that were seeded from striosome-like and matrix-like voxels transited spatially distinct portions of the white matter. Matrix-like streamlines were 5.7-fold more likely to reach the GPi, replicating animal tract-tracing studies. Striosome-like connectivity dominated in six thalamic nuclei (anteroventral, central lateral, laterodorsal, lateral posterior, mediodorsal-medial, and medial geniculate). Matrix-like connectivity dominated in seven thalamic nuclei (centromedian, parafascicular, pulvinar-anterior, pulvinar-lateral, ventral lateral-anterior, ventral lateral-posterior, ventral posterolateral). Though we mapped all thalamic nuclei independently, functionally-related nuclei were matched for compartment-level bias. We validated these results with prior thalamostriate tract tracing studies in non-human primates and other species; where reliable data was available, all agreed with our measures of structural connectivity. Matrix-like connectivity was lateralized (left > right hemisphere) in 18 thalamic nuclei, independent of handedness, diffusion protocol, sex, or whether the nucleus was striosome-dominated or matrix-dominated. Compartment-specific biases in striato-pallido-thalamic structural connectivity suggest that routing CSTC loops through striosome-like or matrix-like voxels is a fundamental mechanism for organizing and regulating brain networks. Our MRI-based assessments of striato-thalamic connectivity in humans match and extend the results of prior tract tracing studies in animals. Compartment-level characterization may improve localization of human neuropathologies and improve neurosurgical targeting in the GPi and thalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian T. Funk
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Asim A. O. Hassan
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States
| | - Norbert Brüggemann
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Nutan Sharma
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Hans C. Breiter
- Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Warren Wright Adolescent Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Anne J. Blood
- Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
- Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Jeff L. Waugh
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States
- Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
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Ruigrok TJH, Wang X, Sabel-Goedknegt E, Coulon P, Gao Z. A disynaptic basal ganglia connection to the inferior olive: potential for basal ganglia influence on cerebellar learning. Front Syst Neurosci 2023; 17:1176126. [PMID: 37215357 PMCID: PMC10196041 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1176126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that the cerebellum and the basal ganglia are interconnected at subcortical levels. However, a subcortical basal ganglia connection to the inferior olive (IO), being the source of the olivocerebellar climbing fiber system, is not known. We have used classical tracing with CTb, retrograde transneuronal infection with wildtype rabies virus, conditional tracing with genetically modified rabies virus, and examination of material made available by the Allen Brain Institute, to study potential basal ganglia connections to the inferior olive in rats and mice. We show in both species that parvalbumin-positive, and therefore GABAergic, neurons in the entopeduncular nucleus, representing the rodent equivalent of the internal part of the globus pallidus, innervate a group of cells that surrounds the fasciculus retroflexus and that are collectively known as the area parafascicularis prerubralis. As these neurons supply a direct excitatory input to large parts of the inferior olivary complex, we propose that the entopeduncular nucleus, as a main output station of the basal ganglia, provides an inhibitory influence on olivary excitability. As such, this connection may influence olivary involvement in cerebellar learning and/or could be involved in transmission of reward properties that have recently been established for olivocerebellar signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Xiaolu Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Patrice Coulon
- Institute de Neurosciences de la Timone, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Zhenyu Gao
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Waugh JL, Hassan A, Kuster JK, Levenstein JM, Warfield SK, Makris N, Brüggemann N, Sharma N, Breiter HC, Blood AJ. An MRI method for parcellating the human striatum into matrix and striosome compartments in vivo. Neuroimage 2021; 246:118714. [PMID: 34800665 PMCID: PMC9142299 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The mammalian striatum is comprised of intermingled tissue compartments, matrix and striosome. Though indistinguishable by routine histological techniques, matrix and striosome have distinct embryologic origins, afferent/efferent connections, surface protein expression, intra-striatal location, susceptibilities to injury, and functional roles in a range of animal behaviors. Distinguishing the compartments previously required post-mortem tissue and/or genetic manipulation; we aimed to identify matrix/striosome non-invasively in living humans. We used diffusion MRI (probabilistic tractography) to identify human striatal voxels with connectivity biased towards matrix-favoring or striosome-favoring regions (determined by prior animal tract-tracing studies). Segmented striatal compartments replicated the topological segregation and somatotopic organization identified in animal matrix/striosome studies. Of brain regions mapped in prior studies, our human brain data confirmed 93% of the compartment-selective structural connectivity demonstrated in animals. Test-retest assessment on repeat scans found a voxel classification error rate of 0.14%. Fractional anisotropy was significantly higher in matrix-like voxels, while mean diffusivity did not differ between the compartments. As mapped by the Talairach human brain atlas, 460 regions were significantly biased towards either matrix or striosome. Our method allows the study of striatal compartments in human health and disease, in vivo, for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- J L Waugh
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States; Division of Child Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States; Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Boston, MA, United States; Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.
| | - Aao Hassan
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - J K Kuster
- Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Boston, MA, United States; Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, United States; Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, United States; Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology Section, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - J M Levenstein
- Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Boston, MA, United States; Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, United States; Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CN, United States; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
| | - S K Warfield
- Department of Radiology, United States; Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - N Makris
- Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Center for Morphometric Analysis, United States; Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, United States; Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, United States.
| | - N Brüggemann
- Department of Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - N Sharma
- Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.
| | - H C Breiter
- Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, United States; Warren Wright Adolescent Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States.
| | - A J Blood
- Mood and Motor Control Laboratory, Boston, MA, United States; Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, United States; Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, United States; Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Charlestown, MA, United States.
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White matter abnormalities associated with ADHD outcomes in adulthood. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:6655-6665. [PMID: 34035475 PMCID: PMC8613296 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01153-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
It remains unclear if previously reported structural abnormalities in children with ADHD are present in adulthood regardless of clinical outcome. In this study, we examined the extent to which focal-rather than diffuse-abnormalities in fiber collinearity of 18 major white matter tracts could distinguish 126 adults with rigorously diagnosed childhood ADHD (ADHD; mean age [SD] = 34.3 [3.6] years; F/M = 12/114) from 58 adults without ADHD histories (non-ADHD; mean age [SD] = 33.9 [4.1] years; F/M = 5/53) and if any of these abnormalities were greater for those with persisting ADHD symptomatology. To this end, a tract profile approach was used. After accounting for age, sex, handedness, and comorbidities, a MANCOVA revealed a main effect of group (ADHD < non-ADHD; F[18,155] = 2.1; p = 0.007) on fractional anisotropy (FA, a measure of fiber collinearity and/or integrity), in focal portions of white matter tracts involved in visuospatial processing and memory (i.e., anterior portion of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and middle portion of the left and right cingulum angular bundle). Only abnormalities in the anterior portion of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus distinguished probands with persisting versus desisting ADHD symptomatology, suggesting that abnormalities in the cingulum angular bundle might reflect "scarring" effects of childhood ADHD. To our knowledge, this is the first study using a tract profile approach to identify focal or widespread structural abnormalities in adults with ADHD rigorously diagnosed in childhood.
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Biological constraints on neural network models of cognitive function. Nat Rev Neurosci 2021; 22:488-502. [PMID: 34183826 PMCID: PMC7612527 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-021-00473-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Neural network models are potential tools for improving our understanding of complex brain functions. To address this goal, these models need to be neurobiologically realistic. However, although neural networks have advanced dramatically in recent years and even achieve human-like performance on complex perceptual and cognitive tasks, their similarity to aspects of brain anatomy and physiology is imperfect. Here, we discuss different types of neural models, including localist, auto-associative, hetero-associative, deep and whole-brain networks, and identify aspects under which their biological plausibility can be improved. These aspects range from the choice of model neurons and of mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and learning to implementation of inhibition and control, along with neuroanatomical properties including areal structure and local and long-range connectivity. We highlight recent advances in developing biologically grounded cognitive theories and in mechanistically explaining, on the basis of these brain-constrained neural models, hitherto unaddressed issues regarding the nature, localization and ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of higher brain functions. In closing, we point to possible future clinical applications of brain-constrained modelling.
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Špiclin Ž, McClelland J, Kybic J, Goksel O. Nonlinear Alignment of Whole Tractograms with the Linear Assignment Problem. BIOMEDICAL IMAGE REGISTRATION 2020. [PMCID: PMC7279924 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50120-4_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
After registration of the imaging data of two brains, homologous anatomical structures are expected to overlap better than before registration. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) techniques and tractography techniques provide a representation of the anatomical connections in the white matter, as hundreds of thousands of streamlines, forming the tractogram. The literature on methods for aligning tractograms is in active development and provides methods that operate either from voxel information, e.g. fractional anisotropy, orientation distribution function, T1-weighted MRI, or directly from streamline information. In this work, we align streamlines using the linear assignment problem (LAP) and propose a method to reduce the high computational cost of aligning whole brain tractograms. As further contribution, we present a comparison among some of the freely-available linear and nonlinear tractogram alignment methods, where we show that our LAP-based method outperforms all others. In discussing the results, we show that a main limitation of all streamline-based nonlinear registration methods is the computational cost and that addressing such problem may lead to further improvement in the quality of registration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Žiga Špiclin
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jamie McClelland
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jan Kybic
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Orcun Goksel
- Computer Vision Lab, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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