Functional organization of human subgenual cortical areas: Relationship between architectonical segregation and connectional heterogeneity.
Human subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) is involved in affective experiences and fear processing. Functional neuroimaging studies view it as a homogeneous cortical entity. However, sACC comprises several distinct cyto- and receptorarchitectonical areas: 25, s24, s32, and the ventral portion of area 33. Thus, we hypothesized that the areas may also be connectionally and functionally distinct. We performed structural post mortem and functional in vivo analyses. We computed probabilistic maps of each area based on cytoarchitectonical analysis of ten post mortem brains. Maps, publicly available via the JuBrain atlas and the Anatomy Toolbox, were used to define seed regions of task-dependent functional connectivity profiles and quantitative functional decoding. sACC areas presented distinct co-activation patterns within widespread networks encompassing cortical and subcortical regions. They shared common functional domains related to emotion, perception and cognition. A more specific analysis of these domains revealed an association of s24 with sadness, and of s32 with fear processing. Both areas were activated during taste evaluation, and co-activated with the amygdala, a key node of the affective network. s32 co-activated with areas of the executive control network, and was associated with tasks probing cognition in which stimuli did not have an emotional component. Area 33 was activated by painful stimuli, and co-activated with areas of the sensorimotor network. These results support the concept of a connectional and functional specificity of the cyto- and receptorarchitectonically defined areas within the sACC, which can no longer be seen as a structurally and functionally homogeneous brain region.
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: n.palomero-gallagher@fz-juelich.de.
Nicola
N
Palomero-Gallagher
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Simon B
SB
Eickhoff
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Felix
F
Hoffstaedter
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
Axel
A
Schleicher
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
Hartmut
H
Mohlberg
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA; Cingulum Neurosciences Institute, Manlius, NY 13104, USA.
Brent A
BA
Vogt
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich-Heine-University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany.
Katrin
K
Amunts
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH University Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Karl
K
Zilles
D000328:Adult; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001271:Atlases as Topic; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002102:Cadaver; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics
Anterior cingulate cortex; Cytoarchitecture; Functional decoding; Functional meta-analysis; Gender differences; Probability maps; Receptors