Cited by 417Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesAdvanced MRI Techniques and Applications

Superficial white matter fiber systems impede detection of long-range cortical connections in diffusion MR tractography

Open access
Reveley, Colin, Seth, Anil K., Pierpaoli, Carlo, Silva, Afonso C., Yu, David, Saunders, Richard C., Leopold, David A., Ye, Frank Q.·2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Significance: It is widely recognized that studying the detailed anatomy of the human brain is of great importance for neuroscience and medicine. The principal means for achieving this goal is presently diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) tractography, which uses the local diffusion of water throughout the brain to estimate the course of long-range anatomical projections. Such projections connect gray matter regions through axons that travel in the deep white matter. The present study combines dMRI tractography with histological analysis to investigate where in the brain this method succeeds and fails. We conclude that certain superficial white matter systems pose challenges for measuring cortical connections that must be overcome for accurate determination of detailed neuroanatomy in humans.

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  • Long-distance connections are more difficult to track, as reconstruction error accumulates with each tracking step.

    “Consequently, long-distance connections are more difficult to track, as the reconstruction error accumulates with each tracking step (Zalesky and Fornito 2009; Jbabdi et al. 2015; Reveley et al. 2015; Donahue et al. 2016).”

    From Diffusion MRI-based cortical connectome reconstruction: dependency on tractography procedures and neuroanatomical characteristics (2018) · cites this paper as Reveley et al. 2015

    The Results report that track lines often become trapped in superficial white matter and fail to reach distant targets, supporting the difficulty of tracking long-range connections. The paper attributes that difficulty to local fiber structure; the passages do not establish that reconstruction error accumulates with each tracking step. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Structure-function modeling using MRI data suffers from inherent limitations in DWI-tractography that have not been overcome by state-of-the-art acquisition and processing approaches.

    “structure-function modeling using MRI data suffers from a number of inherent limitations in DWI-tractography that have not been overcome by state-of-the-art acquisition and processing approaches (Calabrese et al., 2015; Donahue et al., 2016; Reveley et al., 2015; Thomas et al., 2014).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [47]Lewis JW, Van Essen DC. Corticocortical connections of visual, sensorimotor, and multimodal processing areas in the parietal lobe of the macaque monkey. J Comp Neurol. 2000;428(1):112–137. doi: 10.1002/1096-9861(20001204)428:1<112::aid-cne8>3.0.co;2-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] · DOI
  2. [56]Pierpaoli C, et al. TORTOISE: An integrated software package for processing of diffusion MRI data. ISMRM Proceedings. 2010;18:1597. [Google Scholar]

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Authors
Reveley, C., Seth, A. K., Pierpaoli, C., Silva, A. C., Yu, D., Saunders, R. C., Leopold, D. A., & Ye, F. Q.
Affiliations
  • University of Sussex (GB)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2015-05-11
Volume
112
Issue
21
Pages
E2820-8
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2112185786
Cited by
417
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 42 · 2015: 11
FWCI
39.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
HHS | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (ZIC MH002899-06)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
Keywords
long-range cortical connections, diffusion tractography, cortical surface, axonal projections, probabilistic tractography, myelin staining, macaque brain
MeSH terms
Animals, Cerebral Cortex, Humans, Macaca mulatta, Male, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Databases, Factual, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Connectome, White Matter, Gray Matter

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