Integrity of white matter in the corpus callosum correlates with bimanual co-ordination skills.
Variation in brain structure may reflect variation in functional properties of specific brain systems. Structural variation may therefore reflect variation in behavioural performance. Here, we use diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to show that variation in white matter integrity in a specific region in the body of the corpus callosum is associated with variation in performance of a bimanual co-ordination task. When the callosal region showing this association is used as a seed for probabilistic tractography, inter-hemispheric pathways are generated to the supplementary motor area and caudal cingulate motor area. This provides further evidence for the role of medial wall motor areas in bimanual co-ordination and supports the idea that variation in brain structure reflects inter-individual differences in skilled performance.
Johansen-Berg
Heidi
H
Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0HS, UK. heidi@fmrib.ox.ac.uk
Della-Maggiore
Valeria
V
Behrens
Timothy E J
TE
Smith
Stephen M
SM
Paus
Tomás
T
D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*