RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Direct structural connections between auditory and visual motion selective regions in humans
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.06.11.145490
DO 10.1101/2020.06.11.145490
A1 A. Gurtubay-Antolin
A1 C. Battal
A1 C. Maffei
A1 M. Rezk
A1 S Mattioni
A1 J. Jovicich
A1 O. Collignon
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/12/2020.06.11.145490.abstract
AB In humans, the occipital middle-temporal region (hMT+/V5) specializes in the processing of visual motion, while the Planum Temporale (hPT) specializes in auditory motion processing. It has been hypothesized that these regions might communicate directly to achieve fast and optimal exchange of multisensory motion information. In this study, we investigated for the first time in humans the existence of direct white matter connections between visual and auditory motion-selective regions using a combined functional- and diffusion-MRI approach. We found reliable evidence supporting the existence of direct white matter connections between individually and functionally defined hMT+/V5 and hPT. We show that projections between hMT+/V5 and hPT do not overlap with large white matter bundles such as the Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus (ILF) nor the Inferior Frontal Occipital Fasciculus (IFOF). Moreover, we did not find evidence for the existence of reciprocal projections between the face fusiform area and hPT, supporting the functional specificity of hMT+/V5 – hPT connections. Finally, evidence supporting the existence of hMT+/V5 – hPT connections was corroborated in a large sample of participants (n=114) from the human connectome project. Altogether, this study provides first evidence supporting the existence of direct occipito-temporal projections between hMT+/V5 and hPT which may support the exchange of motion information between functionally specialized auditory and visual regions and that we propose to name the middle (or motion) occipito-temporal track (MOTT).Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.