scholarly journals Connectivity between the superior colliculus and the amygdala in humans and macaque monkeys: virtual dissection with probabilistic DTI tractography

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 1947-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Rafal ◽  
Kristin Koller ◽  
Janet H. Bultitude ◽  
Paul Mullins ◽  
Robert Ward ◽  
...  

It has been suggested that some cortically blind patients can process the emotional valence of visual stimuli via a fast, subcortical pathway from the superior colliculus (SC) that reaches the amygdala via the pulvinar. We provide in vivo evidence for connectivity between the SC and the amygdala via the pulvinar in both humans and rhesus macaques. Probabilistic diffusion tensor imaging tractography revealed a streamlined path that passes dorsolaterally through the pulvinar before arcing rostrally to traverse above the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle and connect to the lateral amygdala. To obviate artifactual connectivity with crossing fibers of the stria terminalis, the stria was also dissected. The putative streamline between the SC and amygdala traverses above the temporal horn dorsal to the stria terminalis and is positioned medial to it in humans and lateral to it in monkeys. The topography of the streamline was examined in relation to lesion anatomy in five patients who had previously participated in behavioral experiments studying the processing of emotionally valenced visual stimuli. The pulvinar lesion interrupted the streamline in two patients who had exhibited contralesional processing deficits and spared the streamline in three patients who had no deficit. Although not definitive, this evidence supports the existence of a subcortical pathway linking the SC with the amygdala in primates. It also provides a necessary bridge between behavioral data obtained in future studies of neurological patients, and any forthcoming evidence from more invasive techniques, such as anatomical tracing studies and electrophysiological investigations only possible in nonhuman species.

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (S 01) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Breu ◽  
D Reisinger ◽  
D Wu ◽  
Y Zhang ◽  
A Fatemi ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 215-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Goga ◽  
Zeynep Firat ◽  
Klara Brinzaniuc ◽  
Is Florian

Abstract Objective: The ultimate anatomy of the Meyer’s loop continues to elude us. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) may be able to demonstrate, in vivo, the anatomy of the complex network of white matter fibers surrounding the Meyer’s loop and the optic radiations. This study aims at exploring the anatomy of the Meyer’s loop by using DTI and fiber tractography. Methods: Ten healthy subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with DTI at 3 T. Using a region-of-interest (ROI) based diffusion tensor imaging and fiber tracking software (Release 2.6, Achieva, Philips), sequential ROI were placed to reconstruct visual fibers and neighboring projection fibers involved in the formation of Meyer’s loop. The 3-dimensional (3D) reconstructed fibers were visualized by superimposition on 3-planar MRI brain images to enhance their precise anatomical localization and relationship with other anatomical structures. Results: Several projection fiber including the optic radiation, occipitopontine/parietopontine fibers and posterior thalamic peduncle participated in the formation of Meyer’s loop. Two patterns of angulation of the Meyer’s loop were found. Conclusions: DTI with DTT provides a complimentary, in vivo, method to study the details of the anatomy of the Meyer’s loop.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Das ◽  
K Kelly ◽  
M Aldred ◽  
I Teh ◽  
CK Stoeck ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Heart Research UK Background Diffusion tensor cardiac magnetic resonance (DT-CMR) imaging allows for characterising myocardial microstructure in-vivo using mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), secondary eigenvector angle (E2A) and helix angle (HA) maps. Following myocardial infarction (MI), alterations in MD, FA and HA proportions have previously been reported. E2A depicts the contractile state of myocardial sheetlets, however the behaviour of E2A in infarct segments, and all DTI markers in areas of microvascular obstruction (MVO) is also not fully understood.  Purpose We performed spin echo DTI in patients following ST-elevation MI (STEMI) in order to investigate acute changes in DTI parameters in remote and infarct segments both with and without MVO. Method Twenty STEMI patients (16 men, 4 women, mean age 59) had acute (5 ± 2d) 3T CMR scans. CMR protocol included: second order motion compensated (M012) free-breathing spin echo DTI (3 slices, 18 diffusion directions at b-values 100s/mm2[3], 200s/mm2[3] and 500s/mm2[12], reconstructed resolution was 1.66x1.66x8mm); cine and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. Average MD, FA, E2A HA parameters were calculated on a  16 AHA segmental level. HA maps were described by dividing values into left-handed HA (LHM, -90° < HA < -30°), circumferential HA (CM, -30° < HA < 30°), and right-handed HA (RHM, 30° < HA < 90°) and reported as relative proportions. Segments were defined as infarct (positive for LGE) and remote (opposite to the infarct).  Results DTI acquisition was successful in all patients (acquisition time 13 ± 5mins). Ten patients had evidence of MVO on LGE images. MD was significantly higher in infarct regions in comparison to remote; MVO-ve infarct segments had significantly higher MD than MVO + ve infarct segments (MD remote= 1.46 ± 0.12x10-3mm2/s, MD MVO + ve = 1.59 ± 0.12x10-3mm2/s, MD MVO-ve  = 1.75 ± 0.12x10-3mm2/s, ANOVA p < 0.01). FA was reduced in infarct segments in comparison to remote; MVO-ve infarct segments had significantly lower FA than MVO + ve infarct segments (FAremote= 0.37 ± 0.02, FA MVO + ve = 0.31 ± 0.02 x 10-3mm2/s, MD MVO-ve =0.25 ± 0.02, ANOVA p < 0.01). E2A values were significantly lower in infarct segments compared to remote; MVO + ve infarct segments had significantly lower values than MVO-ve. (E2A remote= 57.4 ± 5.2°, E2A MVO-ve = 46.8 ± 2.5°, E2A MVO + ve = 36.8 ± 3.1°, ANOVA p < 0.001). RHM% (corresponding to subendocardium) was significantly lower in infarct segments compared to remote; MVO + ve infarct segments had significantly lower RHM% than MVO-ve. (RHM remote= 37 ± 3%, RHM RHM MVO-ve= 28 ± 7%, MVO + ve= 8 ± 5%, ANOVA p < 0.001). Conclusion The presence of MVO results in a decrease in MD and increase in FA in comparison to surrounding infarct segments. However, the reduction in E2A and right-handed myocytes on HA in infarct segments is further exacerbated by the presence of MVO. Further study is required to investigate the underlying mechanisms for such alterations in signal intensity. Abstract Figure. A case of transmural septal MI with MVO


Radiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 272 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Wintermark ◽  
Diane S. Huss ◽  
Binit B. Shah ◽  
Nicholas Tustison ◽  
T. Jason Druzgal ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 102 (9) ◽  
pp. 3244-3251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Janković ◽  
Ilhem Messaoudi ◽  
Janko Nikolich-Žugich

AbstractA prominent theory of immune senescence holds that repeated antigenic stimulation and decreased production of naive cells combine to progressively exhaust the reserve of lymphocytes available to fight new pathogens, culminating in an accumulation of lymphocytes that achieved replicative senescence. A well-defined primate model of immune senescence in vivo would greatly facilitate testing of this theory. Here, we investigated phenotypic and functional T-cell aging in the rhesus macaques (RMs), currently the dominant primate model of AIDS. Our results show that sharp differences exist between the CD8 and CD4 T-cell subsets in (1) cell-cycle programs (as assessed by both in vitro proliferation and in vivo turnover measurement); (2) CD28 regulation on cell-cycle entry; and (3) accumulation of immediate effector cells among the CD28– cells, believed to be close to or at replicative senescence. These results further suggest poor reliability of CD28 as a marker for senescence. We suggest that some of the T-cell aging phenomenology in RMs can be ascribed to accentuation over time of the inherent differences in activation programs in CD8 and CD4 T cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (14) ◽  
pp. 3033-3046 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Breeden ◽  
E. M. Cardinale ◽  
L. M. Lozier ◽  
J. W. VanMeter ◽  
A. A. Marsh

Background.Callous-unemotional (CU) traits represent a significant risk factor for severe and persistent conduct problems in children and adolescents. Extensive neuroimaging research links CU traits to structural and functional abnormalities in the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. In addition, adults with psychopathy (a disorder for which CU traits are a developmental precursor) exhibit reduced integrity in uncinate fasciculus, a white-matter (WM) tract that connects prefrontal and temporal regions. However, research in adolescents has not yet yielded similarly consistent findings.Method.We simultaneously modeled CU traits and externalizing behaviors as continuous traits, while controlling for age and IQ, in order to identify the unique relationship of each variable with WM microstructural integrity, assessed using diffusion tensor imaging. We used tract-based spatial statistics to evaluate fractional anisotropy, an index of WM integrity, in uncinate fasciculus and stria terminalis in 47 youths aged 10–17 years, of whom 26 exhibited conduct problems and varying levels of CU traits.Results.Whereas both CU traits and externalizing behaviors were negatively correlated with WM integrity in bilateral uncinate fasciculus and stria terminalis/fornix, simultaneously modeling both variables revealed that these effects were driven by CU traits; the severity of externalizing behavior was not related to WM integrity after controlling for CU traits.Conclusions.These results indicate that WM abnormalities similar to those observed in adult populations with psychopathy may emerge in late childhood or early adolescence, and may be critical to understanding the social and affective deficits observed in this population.


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