title: Characteristics of corticospinal tract area according to pontine level.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) allows to isolate the corticospinal tract (CST) area from adjacent structures. Using DTI, we investigated the characteristics of the CST areas according to the pontine level in the normal human brain. We recruited 33 healthy subjects and DTIs were acquired using a sensitivity-encoding head coil on a 1.5-T Philips Gyroscan Intera. We measured the size and fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the CST area at the upper, middle, and lower pons. The size of the CST area in the lower pons was smaller than those of the mid-pons and upper pons, and the size of the CST area in the mid-pons was smallerthan that of the upper pons (p<0.05). FA values of the lower pons were larger than those of the mid-pons and upper pons, and the FA value of the mid-pons was also larger than that of the upper pons (p<0.05). In summary, we found a smaller size and higher FA value of the CST area from rostral to caudal direction in the pons. These results suggest a more compact neural structure of CST areas from rostral to caudal direction in the pons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, 170 Hyeonchung-ro, Nam-gu, Daegu 705-703, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Pyo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; corticospinal tract; pons
references.citation: J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1986 May-Jun;10(3):379-85
references.pmid: 3700737
references.citation: Stroke. 1995 Jun;26(6):950-5
references.pmid: 7762044
references.citation: Yonsei Med J. 2011 Jul;52(4):553-7
references.pmid: 21623594
references.citation: J Mol Neurosci. 2008;34(1):51-61
references.pmid: 18157658
references.citation: Ann Neurol. 1999 Feb;45(2):265-9
references.pmid: 9989633
references.citation: Korean J Radiol. 2011 Nov-Dec;12(6):651-61
references.pmid: 22043146
references.citation: Radiographics. 2005 Jan-Feb;25(1):53-65; discussion 66-8
references.pmid: 15653586
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1992 Apr;55(4):294-9
references.pmid: 1583514
references.citation: Stroke. 1997 Apr;28(4):809-15
references.pmid: 9099201