title: Diffusion tensor studies dissociated two fronto-temporal pathways in the human memory system.
abstract: Recent functional neuroimaging studies have shown that multiple cortical areas are involved in memory encoding and retrieval. However, the underlying anatomical connections among these memory-related areas in humans remain elusive due to methodological limitations. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a technique based on detecting the diffusion of water molecules from magnetic resonance images. DTI allows non-invasive mapping of anatomical connections and gives a comprehensive picture of connectivity throughout the entire brain. By combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and DTI, we show that memory-related areas in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) each connect with memory-related areas in the left temporal cortex. This result suggests there are two pathways between prefrontal cortex and temporal cortex related to the human memory system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, 715 Albany Street, X-B01, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. emi@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohki
authors.forename: Dae-Shik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*