title: Inter-hemispheric Claustral Connections in Human Brain: A Constrained Spherical Deconvolution-Based Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Complex claustral connection network was widely demonstrated both in humans and animals. Moreover, several studies have suggested that claustral connections directly involve also the contralateral hemisphere. Detection of contralateral cortico-claustral and inter-claustral connections was reported mainly in animals and only partially in humans. The main purpose of this study was to provide more robust tractography-driven support of the existence of inter-hemispheric claustral connections in humans, by means of a dedicated optimized tractographic protocol.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen healthy subjects were examined by means of an advanced magnetic resonance imaging-based probabilistic constrained spherical deconvolution tractographic protocol. Moreover, quantitative diffusion parameters were extracted by each reconstructed pathway.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, further imaging-based support on the possible existence in humans of contralateral cortico-claustral and inter-claustral connections was provided. These connections were found to involve almost all the superior portion of each claustrum, showing a topographical organization. Moreover, the detection of inter-claustral connections passing through the anterior commissure was reported, for the first time, in humans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The possible existence of inter-claustral and cortico-claustral contralateral pathways might provide the morphological basis for the complex functional phenomena observed in previous studies. Furthermore, these connections might have several important clinical implications, since they might explain how the inter-hemispheric coordination governed by the claustrum, as well as the functional recovery subsequent to damages involving one claustrum, takes place.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy. alessandro.arrigo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arrigo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mormina
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calamuneri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaeta
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Granata
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Anastasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.|IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.|IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quartarone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001921:Brain; D002540:Cerebral Cortex; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System; D008297:Male
keywords: Claustrum; Constrained spherical deconvolution; Diffusion parameters; Inter-hemispheric connections; Probabilistic tractography