Asymmetry and Structure of the Fronto-Parietal Networks Underlie Visuomotor Processing in Humans

Budisavljević, Sanja; Dell’Acqua, Flavio; Zanatto, Debora; Begliomini, Chiara; Miotto, Diego; Motta, Raffaella; Castiello, Umberto

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv348

Cited by 54 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…To better understand the role of the frontal lobe for the control of hand actions, we moved on from the relatively detailed knowledge of the cortical motor mechanisms to investigate the role of the corresponding white matter. Recent diffusion imaging studies provide converging evidence that fronto-parietal white matter structures are a significant determinant of motor performance (Koch et al, 2010;Budisavljevic et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the frontal aslant tract and premotor connections in visually guided hand movements

et al. 2017

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Functional neuroimaging and brain lesion studies demonstrate that secondary motor areas of the frontal lobe play a crucial role in the cortical control of hand movements. However, no study so far has examined frontal white matter connections of the secondary motor network, namely the frontal aslant tract, connecting the supplementary motor complex and the posterior inferior frontal regions, and the U-shaped dorsal and ventral premotor fibers running through the middle frontal gyrus. The aim of the current study is to explore the involvement of the short frontal lobe connections in reaching and reach-to-grasp movements in 32 right-handed healthy subjects by correlating tractography data based on spherical deconvolution approach with kinematical data. We showed that individual differences in the microstructure of the bilateral frontal aslant tract, bilateral ventral and left dorsal premotor tracts were associated with kinematic features of hand actions. Furthermore, bilateral ventral premotor connections were also involved in the closing grip phase necessary for determining efficient and stable grasping of the target object. This work suggests for the first time that hand kinematics and visuomotor processing are associated with the anatomy of the short frontal lobe connections.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the frontal aslant tract and premotor connections in visually guided hand movements

et al. 2017

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“…Additionally, tract volume (in voxels) and connection probability (the number of streamlines or connections that connect the seed and the target regions) were calculated. While we are aware that these two measures might suffer from some limitations (Jones et al 2013), the debate on the effectiveness of the different indices of white matter integrity is still ongoing and both connection probability and tract volume have been used in previous research with interesting results (e.g., Khalsa et al 2013;Budisavljevic et al 2016). Consequently, in the present study we used three parameters of interest that have been reported to represent different measures of white matter integrity (Peeva et al 2013): 1) mean tract FA (representing WM directionality), 2) connection probability (i.e., WM connection strength between two regions), and 3) tract volume.…”

Section: Analysis Of Diffusion Mrimentioning

confidence: 99%

White matter integrity in brain networks relevant to anxiety and depression: evidence from the human connectome project dataset

Witte

Mueller

2016

Brain Imaging and Behavior

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Anxiety and depression are associated with altered communication within global brain networks and between these networks and the amygdala. Functional connectivity studies demonstrate an effect of anxiety and depression on four critical brain networks involved in top-down attentional control (fronto-parietal network; FPN), salience detection and error monitoring (cingulo-opercular network; CON), bottom-up stimulus-driven attention (ventral attention network; VAN), and default mode (default mode network; DMN). However, structural evidence on the white matter (WM) connections within these networks and between these networks and the amygdala is lacking. The current study in a large healthy sample (n = 483) observed that higher trait anxiety-depression predicted lower WM integrity in the connections between amygdala and specific regions of the FPN, CON, VAN, and DMN. We discuss the possible consequences of these anatomical alterations for cognitive-affective functioning and underscore the need for further theory-driven research on individual differences in anxiety and depression on brain structure.

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“…describe a ‘lateralized brain network for visuospatial attention’ in which the volume of right SLF II is associated with left bias in line bisection and with faster left field detection. It has also been reported that in a neurotypical population, larger volumes of SLF II and SLF III in the right hemisphere were associated with faster speed of visuomotor processing (Budisavljevic et al ., ). Previous work from this group has reported visuospatial processing advantages during mental rotation in ASD in a partly overlapping sample (McGrath et al ., ), and it is possible that improved white matter architecture coupled with greater rightward lateralisation of the SLF in our ASD population contributed to this enhanced visuospatial processing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Abnormal fronto‐parietal white matter organisation in the superior longitudinal fasciculus branches in autism spectrum disorders

Fitzgerald

Leemans

Kehoe

et al. 2017

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be underpinned by disrupted functional and structural neural connectivity. Abnormal fronto-parietal functional connectivity has been widely reported in the literature; this may be underpinned by disrupted microstructural organisation of white matter. The superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) is a major fronto-parietal white matter tract, the structure of which has been little studied in ASD. The fronto-parietal projections of this tract (SLF I, II and III) are thought to play an important role in a number of cognitive functions including attention and visuospatial processing. To date, the isolation of the fronto-parietal branches of the SLF has been hampered by limitations of traditional tractography approaches. Constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD)-based tractography is an advanced approach that allows valid isolation of the fronto-parietal branches of the SLF. Diffusion MRI data were acquired from 45 participants with ASD and 45 age- and IQ-matched controls. The SLF I, II and III branches were isolated using CSD-based tractography in ExploreDTI. Significantly greater fractional anisotropy (FA) was observed in the right SLF II relative to controls. The ASD group also showed greater linear diffusion coefficient in the left SLF I and the right SLF II. In the SLF II, the ASD group had significantly greater right lateralisation of FA in comparison with the control group. The clinical and functional implications of increased FA in white matter are poorly understood; however, it is possible that this increased white matter organisation in the SLF in ASD may contribute to relative processing advantages in the condition.

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Asymmetry and Structure of the Fronto-Parietal Networks Underlie Visuomotor Processing in Humans

Cited by 54 publications

References 113 publications

The role of the frontal aslant tract and premotor connections in visually guided hand movements

The role of the frontal aslant tract and premotor connections in visually guided hand movements

White matter integrity in brain networks relevant to anxiety and depression: evidence from the human connectome project dataset

Abnormal fronto‐parietal white matter organisation in the superior longitudinal fasciculus branches in autism spectrum disorders

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