A cross-validated cytoarchitectonic atlas of the human ventral visual stream (original) (raw)
Related papers
Data in brief, 2017
The data presented here are related to the research article: "A cross-validated cytoarchitectonic atlas of the human ventral visual stream" in which we developed a cytoarchitectonic atlas of ventral visual cortex. Here, we provide two additional quantifications of this cytoarchitectonic atlas: First, we quantify the effect of brain template on cross-validation performance. The data show a comparison between cortex-based alignment to two templates: the postmortem average brain and the FreeSurfer average brain. Second, we quantify the relationship between this cytoarchitectonic atlas and a recently published multimodal atlas of the human brain (Glasser et al., 2016).
The Cytoarchitecture of Domain-specific Regions in Human High-level Visual Cortex
A fundamental hypothesis in neuroscience proposes that underlying cellular architecture (cytoarchitecture) contributes to the functionality of a brain area. However, this hypothesis has not been tested in human ventral temporal cortex (VTC) that contains domain-specific regions causally involved in perception. To fill this gap in knowledge, we used cortex-based alignment to register functional regions from living participants to cytoarchitectonic areas in ex vivo brains. This novel approach reveals 3 findings. First, there is a consistent relationship between domain-specific regions and cytoarchitectonic areas: each functional region is largely restricted to 1 cytoarchitectonic area. Second, extracting cytoarchitectonic profiles from face-and place-selective regions after back-projecting each region to 20-μm thick histological sections indicates that cytoarchitectonic properties distinguish these regions from each other. Third, some cytoarchitectonic areas contain more than 1 domain-specific region. For example, face-, body-, and character-selective regions are located within the same cytoarchitectonic area. We summarize these findings with a parsimonious hypothesis incorporating how cellular properties may contribute to functional specialization in human VTC. Specifically, we link computational principles to correlated axes of functional and cytoarchitectonic segregation in human VTC, in which parallel processing across domains occurs along a lateral–medial axis while transformations of information within domain occur along an anterior–posterior axis.
Anatomy and Embryology, 2005
In human brain imaging studies, it is common practice to use the Talairach stereotaxic reference system for signifying the convergence of brain function and structure. In nearly all neuroimaging reports, the studied cortical areas are specified further with a Brodmann Area (BA) number. This specification is based upon macroscopic extrapolation from Brodmann's projection maps into the Talairach atlas rather than upon a real microscopic cytoarchitectonic study. In this review we argue that such a specification of Brodmann area(s) via the Talairach atlas is not appropriate. Cytoarchitectonic studies reviewed in this paper show large interindividual differences in 3-D location of primary sensory cortical areas (visual cortex) as well as heteromodal associational areas (prefrontal cortical areas), even after correction for differences in brain size and shape. Thus, the simple use of Brodmann cortical areas derived from the Talairach atlas can lead to erroneous results in the specification of pertinent BA. This in turn can further lead to wrong hypotheses on brain system(s) involved in normal functions or in specific brain disorders. In addition, we will briefly discuss the different 'Brodmann' nomenclatures which are in use for the cerebral cortex.
Retinotopic Organization of Human Visual Cortex: Departures from the Classical Model
Cerebral Cortex, 1996
Retinotopic mapping strategies similar to those used for invasive electrophysiological studies to identify multiple visual areas in monkeys have been adapted for noninvasive studies in humans, using magnetic recordings of brain activity in conjunction with anatomical magnetic resonance imaging. The retinotopic organization of the primary visual area (V1) in the left hemisphere of human subjects was examined by presenting small patterned stimuli near the vertical and horizontal meridians in the lower right visual field. In contrast with the classical model of VI retinotopy, our results suggest that the representation of the horizontal meridian does not necessarily correspond in a one-toone manner with the base of the calcarine fissure and that some lower field stimuli can activate regions in the lower bank of the fissure. The results also indicate significant individual variability in the details of how VI maps around the calcarine fissure.
A Probabilistic Functional Atlas of Human Occipito-Temporal Visual Cortex
Cerebral Cortex
Human visual cortex contains many retinotopic and category-specific regions. These brain regions have been the focus of a large body of functional magnetic resonance imaging research, significantly expanding our understanding of visual processing. As studying these regions requires accurate localization of their cortical location, researchers perform functional localizer scans to identify these regions in each individual. However, it is not always possible to conduct these localizer scans. Here, we developed and validated a functional region of interest (ROI) atlas of early visual and category-selective regions in human ventral and lateral occipito-temporal cortex. Results show that for the majority of functionally defined ROIs, cortex-based alignment results in lower between-subject variability compared to nonlinear volumetric alignment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that 1) the atlas accurately predicts the location of an independent dataset of ventral temporal cortex ROIs and other...
NeuroImage, 2010
Regularity of laminar origin and termination of projections appears to be a common feature of corticocortical connections. We tested three models of this regularity, originally formulated for primate cerebral cortex, using quantitative data on the relative supragranular layer origins (SGN%) of 151 projections from 19 areas (∼145,000 neurons) to four areas of cat extrastriate cortex. Predictive variables in the models were: hierarchical level differences , structural type differences , and distances between areas. Global and local hierarchies of cat visual cortex were used to evaluate the hierarchical model. Ranking of areas by their cytoarchitectural differentiation (e.g., relative prominence of layer IV) allowed testing of the structural model, while the distance model was tested for the number of borders separating areas. Laminar projection origins correlated moderately with hierarchical differences, and poorly with border distances, but were strongly and consistently correlated with area differences in cytoarchitectural rank. Moreover, projection densities were moderately and negatively correlated with area distances and structural differences. Our findings suggest that the relative cytoarchitectural differentiation of cortical areas is the main determinant of laminar projection origins in cat visual cortex, and may underlie a general laminar regularity of mammalian cortical connections.
Wide-Field Retinotopy Defines Human Cortical Visual Area V6
Journal of Neuroscience, 2006
The retinotopic organization of a newly identified visual area near the midline in the dorsalmost part of the human parieto-occipital sulcus was mapped using high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging, cortical surface-based analysis, and wide-field retinotopic stimulation. This area was found in all 34 subjects that were mapped. It represents the contralateral visual hemifield in both hemispheres of all subjects, with upper fields located anterior and medial to areas V2/V3, and lower fields medial and slightly anterior to areas V3/V3A. It contains a representation of the center of gaze distinct from V3A, a large representation of the visual periphery, and a mirror-image representation of the visual field. Based on similarity in position, visuotopic organization, and relationship with the neighboring extrastriate visual areas, we suggest it might be the human homolog of macaque area V6, and perhaps of area M (medial) or DM (dorsomedial) of New World primates.
eLife, 2020
The human superior temporal plane, the site of the auditory cortex, displays high inter-individual macro-anatomical variation. This questions the validity of curvature-based alignment (CBA) methods for in vivo imaging data. Here, we have addressed this issue by developing CBA+, which is a cortical surface registration method that uses prior macro-anatomical knowledge. We validate this method by using cytoarchitectonic areas on 10 individual brains (which we make publicly available). Compared to volumetric and standard surface registration, CBA+ results in a more accurate cytoarchitectonic auditory atlas. The improved correspondence of micro-anatomy following the improved alignment of macro-anatomy validates the superiority of CBA+ compared to CBA. In addition, we use CBA+ to align in vivo and postmortem data. This allows projection of functional and anatomical information collected in vivo onto the cytoarchitectonic areas, which has the potential to contribute to the ongoing debate on the parcellation of the human auditory cortex.
Anatomy and Embryology, 2005
Probabilistic maps of neocortical areas and subcortical fiber tracts, warped to a common reference brain, have been published using microscopic architectonic parcellations in ten human postmortem brains. The maps have been successfully applied as topographical references for the anatomical localization of activations observed in functional imaging studies. Here, for the first time, we present stereotaxic, probabilistic maps of the hippocampus, the amygdala and the entorhinal cortex and some of their subdivisions. Cytoarchitectonic mapping was performed in serial, cell-body stained histological sections. The positions and the extent of cytoarchitectonically defined structures were traced in digitized histological sections, 3-D reconstructed and warped to the reference space of the MNI single subject brain using both linear and non-linear elastic tools of alignment. The probability maps and volumes of all structures were calculated. The precise localization of the borders of the mapped regions cannot be predicted consistently by macroanatomical landmarks. Many borders, e.g. between the subiculum and entorhinal cortex, subiculum and Cornu ammonis, and amygdala and hippocampus, do not match sulcal landmarks such as the bottom of a sulcus. Only microscopic observation enables the precise localization of the borders of these brain regions. The superposition of the cytoarchitectonic maps in the common spatial reference system shows a considerably lower degree of intersubject variability in size and position of the allocortical structures and nuclei than the previously delineated neocortical areas. For the first time, the present observations provide cytoarchitectonically verified maps of the human amygdala, hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, which take into account the stereotaxic position of the brain structures as well as intersubject variability. We believe that these maps are efficient tools for the precise microstructural localization of fMRI, PET and anatomical MR data, both in healthy and pathologically altered brains.
NeuroImage, 2014
Human ventral temporal cortex (VTC) plays a pivotal role in high-level vision. An under-studied macroanatomical feature of VTC is the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS), a shallow longitudinal sulcus separating the lateral and medial fusiform gyrus (FG). Here, we quantified the morphological features of the MFS in 69 subjects (ages 7-40), and investigated its relationship to both cytoarchitectonic and functional divisions of VTC with four main findings. First, despite being a minor sulcus, we found that the MFS is a stable macroanatomical structure present in all 138 hemispheres with morphological characteristics developed by age 7. Second, the MFS is the locus of a lateral-medial cytoarchitectonic transition within the posterior FG serving as the boundary between cytoarchitectonic regions FG1 and FG2. Third, the MFS predicts a lateral-medial functional transition in eccentricity bias representations in children, adolescents, and adults. Fourth, the anterior tip of the MFS predicts the location of a face-selective region, mFus-faces/FFA-2. These findings are the first to illustrate that a macroanatomical landmark identifies both cytoarchitectonic and functional divisions of high-level sensory cortex in humans and have important implications for understanding functional and structural organization in the human brain.