Cited by 785Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchVisual perception and processing mechanisms

Hierarchical organization of cortical and thalamic connectivity

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Harris, Julie A., Mihalas, Stefan, Hirokawa, Karla E., Whitesell, Jennifer D., Choi, Hannah, Bernard, Amy, Bohn, Phillip, Caldejon, Shiella +34 more·2019·Nature

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Abstract

The mammalian cortex is a laminar structure containing many areas and cell types that are densely interconnected in complex ways, and for which generalizable principles of organization remain mostly unknown. Here we describe a major expansion of the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas resource 1, involving around a thousand new tracer experiments in the cortex and its main satellite structure, the thalamus. We used Cre driver lines (mice expressing Cre recombinase) to comprehensively and selectively label brain-wide connections by layer and class of projection neuron. Through observations of axon termination patterns, we have derived a set of generalized anatomical rules to describe corticocortical, thalamocortical and corticothalamic projections. We have built a model to assign connection patterns between areas as either feedforward or feedback, and generated testable predictions of hierarchical positions for individual cortical and thalamic areas and for cortical network modules. Our results show that cell-class-specific connections are organized in a shallow hierarchy within the mouse corticothalamic network.

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  • Neocortical areas form a hierarchical neural network with functionally distinct modules and feedforward and feedback pathways within and between modules.

    “these neocortical areas together form a hierarchical neural network with functionally distinct modules and feedforward and feedback pathways both within and between modules”
  • The diversity in interareal axon-projection patterns of glutamatergic neurons forms the structural basis of the hierarchical network.

    “their tremendous diversity in interareal axon-projection patterns forms the structural basis of the hierarchical network”
  • The combination of region-specific cell types and continuous variation of shared cell types across isocortical areas collectively defines cortical areal modularity, providing a molecular basis for cortical modularity revealed in connectivity and brain imaging studies.

    “The combination of these region-specific cell types and the continuous variation of shared cell types across isocortical areas collectively defines cortical areal modularity”

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  1. [21]Jones EG The thalamus. (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

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Authors
Harris, J. A., Mihalas, S., Hirokawa, K. E., Whitesell, J. D., Choi, H., Bernard, A., Bohn, P., Caldejon, S., Casal, L., Cho, A., Feiner, A., Feng, D., Gaudreault, N., Gerfen, C. R., Graddis, N., Groblewski, P. A., Henry, A. M., Ho, A., Howard, R., Knox, J. E., Kuan, L., Kuang, X., Lecoq, J., Lesnar, P., Li, Y., Luviano, J., McConoughey, S., Mortrud, M. T., Naeemi, M., Ng, L., Oh, S. W., Ouellette, B., Shen, E., Sorensen, S. A., Wakeman, W., Wang, Q., Wang, Y., Williford, A., Phillips, J. W., Jones, A. R., Koch, C., & Zeng, H.
Affiliations
  • Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Wenzhou Medical University (CN)
Corresponding author
Harris, Julie A.
Venue
Nature
Published
2019-10-30
Volume
575
Issue
7781
Pages
195-202
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2982557070
Cited by
785
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 92 · 2025: 130 · 2024: 159 · 2023: 126 · 2022: 91 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 66 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 5
FWCI
39.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG047589)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (U01MH105982, U19MH114830)
  • National Eye Institute (R01EY023173)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
Keywords
cortical connectivity, thalamic connectivity, corticothalamic projections, thalamocortical connections, corticocortical connections, hierarchy, mouse brain, Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas
MeSH terms
Animals, Axons, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neural Pathways, Thalamus, Integrases, Mice

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