Diffusion tensor imaging segments the human amygdala in vivo.
The amygdala plays an important role in emotion, learning, and memory. It would be highly advantageous to understand more precisely its internal structure and connectivity for individual human subjects in vivo. Earlier cytoarchitectural research in post-mortem human and animal brains has revealed multiple subdivisions and connectivity patterns, probably related to different functions. With standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, however, the amygdala appears as an undifferentiated area of grey matter. Using high-quality diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3 Tesla, we show diffusion anisotropy in this grey matter area. Such data allowed us to subdivide the amygdala for the first time in vivo. In 15 living subjects, we applied a spectral clustering algorithm to the principal diffusion direction in each amygdala voxel and found a consistent subdivision of the amygdala into a medial and a lateral region. The topography of these regions is in good agreement with the fibre architecture visible in myelin-stained sections through the amygdala of a human post-mortem brain. From these in vivo results we derived a probabilistic map of amygdalar fibre orientations. This segmentation technique has important implications for functional studies in the processing of emotions, cognitive function, and psychiatric disorders and in studying morphometry and volumetry of amygdala subdivisions.
Solano-Castiella
Eugenia
E
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Anwander
Alfred
A
Lohmann
Gabriele
G
Weiss
Marcel
M
Docherty
Carol
C
Geyer
Stefan
S
Reimer
Enrico
E
Friederici
Angela D
AD
Turner
Robert
R
D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult