title: Mapping temporo-parietal and temporo-occipital cortico-cortical connections of the human middle longitudinal fascicle in subject-specific, probabilistic, and stereotaxic Talairach spaces.
abstract: Originally, the middle longitudinal fascicle (MdLF) was defined as a long association fiber tract connecting the superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole with the angular gyrus. More recently its description has been expanded to include all long postrolandic cortico-cortical association connections of the superior temporal gyrus and dorsal temporal pole with the parietal and occipital lobes. Despite its location and size, which makes MdLF one of the most prominent cerebral association fiber tracts, its discovery in humans is recent. Given the absence of a gold standard in humans for this fiber tract, its precise and complete connectivity remains to be determined with certainty. In this study using high angular resolution diffusion MRI (HARDI), we delineated for the first time, six major fiber connections of the human MdLF, four of which are temporo-parietal and two temporo-occipital, by examining morphology, topography, cortical connections, biophysical measures, volume and length in seventy brains. Considering the cortical affiliations of the different connections of MdLF we suggested that this fiber tract may be related to language, attention and integrative higher level visual and auditory processing associated functions. Furthermore, given the extensive connectivity provided to superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole with the parietal and occipital lobes, MdLF may be involved in several neurological and psychiatric conditions such as primary progressive aphasia and other aphasic syndromes, some forms of behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, atypical forms of Alzheimer's disease, corticobasal degeneration, schizophrenia as well as attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder and neglect disorders.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA. nikos@cma.mgh.harvard.edu.|Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. nikos@cma.mgh.harvard.edu.|Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. nikos@cma.mgh.harvard.edu.|McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Affiliated School/Hospital), Belmont, MA, 02478, USA. nikos@cma.mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makris
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.|VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02130, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mouradian
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scaccianoce
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baselli
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baglio
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.|VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02130, USA.|Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.|Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rathi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dickerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Colby College, Waterville, ME, 04901, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yeterian
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology Services, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Center for Neural Systems Investigations, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.|Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubicki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009929:Organ Size; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D066127:White Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: DTI/HARDI; Inferior longitudinal fascicle/inferior longitudinal fasciculus; Middle longitudinal fascicle/middle longitudinal fasciculus; Neurodegenerative disorders; Occipital lobe; Parietal lobe; Primary progressive aphasia