title: Broca's area and its striatal and thalamic connections: a diffusion-MRI tractography study.
abstract: In the recent decades structural connectivity between Broca's area and the basal ganglia has been postulated in the literature, though no direct evidence of this connectivity has yet been presented. The current study investigates this connectivity using a novel diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) fiber tracking method in humans in vivo. Our findings suggest direct connections between sub-regions of Broca's area and the anterior one-third of the putamen, as well as the ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus. Thus, we are the first to provide a detailed account of inferred circuitry involving basal ganglia, thalamus, and Broca's area, which would be a prerequisite to substantiate their support of language processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center Gainesville, FL, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Anastasia A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Triplett
authors.forename: Atchar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sudhyadhom
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gullett
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mareci
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crosson
keywords: Broca's area; basal ganglia; connectivity; diffusion-weighted imaging; thalamus