RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Topographic Stability and Layer-Specific Flexibility are Mechanisms of Human Cortical Plasticity
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.05.29.493865
DO 10.1101/2022.05.29.493865
A1 Northall, Alicia
A1 Doehler, Juliane
A1 Weber, Miriam
A1 Vielhaber, Stefan
A1 Schreiber, Stefanie
A1 Kuehn, Esther
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/30/2022.05.29.493865.abstract
AB Age-related cortical plasticity reveals insights into the mechanisms underlying the stability and flexibility of neuronal circuits. Classical parcellation has long demonstrated the importance of microstructural features yet 3D approaches have rarely been applied to human brain organization in-vivo. We acquired functional and structural 7T-MRI and behavioral data of living younger and older adults to investigate human primary motor cortex (M1) aging, employing 3D parcellation techniques. We identify distinct cortical fields in M1 based on quantitative tissue contrast, which are, along with the myelin-poor borders between them, stable with age. We also show age-related iron accumulation, particularly in the output layer 5b and the lower limb field. Our data offers a new model of human M1 with distinct cortical fields, a mechanistic explanation for the stability of topographic organization in the context of aging and plasticity, and highlights the specific vulnerability of output signal flows to cortical plasticity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.