title: Topographical organization of human corpus callosum: an fMRI mapping study.
abstract: The concept of a topographical map of the corpus callosum (CC) has emerged from human lesion studies and from anatomical tracing investigations in other mammals. Over the last few years, a rising number of researchers have been reporting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation in white matter, particularly the CC. In this study, the scope for describing CC topography with fMRI was explored by evoking activation through simple sensory stimulation and motor tasks. We reviewed our published and unpublished fMRI data on the cortical representation of tactile, gustatory, and visual sensitivity and of motor activation, obtained in 36 volunteers. Activation foci were consistently detected in discrete CC regions: anterior (taste stimuli), central (motor tasks), central and posterior (tactile stimuli), and splenium (visual stimuli). These findings demonstrate that the functional topography of the CC can be explored with fMRI.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisiologia e Storia della Medicina, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020 Ancona, Italy. m.fabri@univpm.it
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fabri
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Polonara
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mascioli
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Salvolini
authors.forename: Tullio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manzoni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D055697:Taste Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult