Topography of the human corpus callosum revisited - Comprehensive fiber tractography using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging

By S. Hofer, Jens Frahm. NeuroImage, 2006

1,192 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Several tracing studies have established a topographical distribution of fiber connections to the cortex in midsagittal cross-sections of the corpus callosum (CC). The most prominent example is Witelson's scheme, which defines five vertical partitions mainly based on primate data. Conventional MRI of the human CC does not reveal morphologically discernable structures, although microscopy techniques identified myelinated axons with a relatively small diameter in the anterior and posterior third of the CC as opposed to thick fibers in the midbody and posterior splenium. Here, we applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in conjunction with a tract-tracing algorithm to gain cortical connectivity information of the CC in individual subjects. With DTI-based tractography, we distinguished five vertical segments of the CC, containing fibers projecting into prefrontal, premotor (and supplementary motor), primary motor, and primary sensory areas as well as into parietal, temporal, and occipital cortical areas. Striking differences to Witelson's classification were recognized in the midbody and anterior third of the CC. In particular, callosal motor fiber bundles were found to cross the CC in a much more posterior location than previously indicated. Differences in water mobility were found to be in qualitative agreement with differences in the microstructure of transcallosal fibers yielding the highest anisotropy in posterior regions of the CC. The lowest anisotropy was observed in compartments assigned to motor and sensory cortical areas. In conclusion, DTI-based fiber tractography of healthy human subjects suggests a modification of the widely accepted Witelson scheme and a new classification of vertical CC partitions.

Subfields: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Psychiatry and Mental health, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c993bf18b2344ed1ff26601dd68bd361b3a5fb28

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

1. Alan C. Evans
2. Yong He
3. Ulman E. R. Lindenberger
4. Angela D. Friederici

In Psychiatry and Mental health

1. Alan C. Evans
2. Ulman E. R. Lindenberger
3. Hauke R. Heekeren
4. Angela D. Friederici

In Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

1. Yong He
2. Alan C. Evans
3. Zhang John Chen
4. E. Bullmore
5. Agnieszka Z. Burzynska
6. Lars Nyberg
7. Ulman E. R. Lindenberger
8. Hauke R. Heekeren

Citations in the corpus

• The brain basis of language processing: from structure to function. (2011, background): “The two hemispheres are neuroanatomically connected via the corpus callosum (122, 124).”
• Age-related differences in white matter microstructure: Region-specific patterns of diffusivity (2010, background): “prefrontal, premotor, and supplementary motor cortices (Hofer and Frahm, 2006).”
• Small-world anatomical networks in the human brain revealed by cortical thickness from MRI. (2007, background): “transit of interhemispheric pathways connecting homologous brain areas (Huang et al. 2005; Hofer and Frahm 2006; Zarei et al. 2006).”