RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Bridging the Gap: From Neuroanatomical Knowledge to Tractography of Brain Pathways
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.08.01.232116
DO 10.1101/2020.08.01.232116
A1 Gallardo, Guillermo
A1 Wassermann, Demian
A1 Anwander, Alfred
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/01/2020.08.01.232116.abstract
AB Despite recent advances in tractography, the gap remains wide between the descriptions of white-matter pathways in the literature and the methods to reconstruct and study them from dMRI images. Here, we tackle this challenge by proposing a language to define white matter tracts, namely WMQLT, and a tool to automatically reconstruct pathways from their WMQLT queries. Our method is performant, flexible enough to allow defining tracts using multiple modalities, and allows to extend ROI-based reconstruction methods. Leveraging our language, we define 19 major brain tracts, alongside their subdivisions, and reconstruct them in a large population. We show that the shape of the reconstructed pathways, as well as their connectivity and lateralizations are in accordance with the current neuroanatomical literature. Finally, we showcase our technique in two scenarios: computing the functional subdivisions of a tract, and assessing the role of handedness and gender in the lateralization of language-related tracts.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.