title: Anatomical connectivity between subcortical structures.
abstract: Understanding anatomical connectivity is crucial for improving outcomes of deep brain stimulation surgery. Tractography is a promising method for noninvasively investigating anatomical connectivity, but connections between subcortical regions have not been closely examined by this method. As many connections to subcortical regions converge at the internal capsule (IC), we investigate the connectivity through the IC to three subcortical nuclei (caudate, lentiform nucleus, and thalamus) in six macaques. We show that a statistical correction for a known distance-related artifact in tractography results in large changes in connectivity patterns. Our results suggest that care should be taken in using tractography to assess anatomical connectivity between subcortical structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taljan
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakaie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*