Mesoscale hierarchical organization of primary somatosensory cortex captured by resting-state-fMRI in humans

NeuroImage

Ravi S. Menon¹  Geoffrey N. Ngo²  Koen V. Haak³  Christian F. Beckmann³ 

[1] Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN FMRIB), University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK;Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada;Donders Institute of Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands;

关键词: Somatosensory cortex;    Hierarchy;    Gradients;    Functional connectivity;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) plays a key role in the processing and integration of afferent somatosensory inputs along an anterior-to-posterior axis, contributing towards necessary human function. It is believed that anatomical connectivity can be used to probe hierarchical organization, however direct characterization of this principle in-vivo within humans remains elusive. Here, we use resting-state functional connectivity as a complement to anatomical connectivity to investigate topographical principles of human S1. We employ a novel approach to examine mesoscopic variations of functional connectivity, and demonstrate a topographic organisation spanning the region's hierarchical axis that strongly correlates with underlying microstructure while tracing along architectonic Brodmann areas. Our findings characterize anatomical hierarchy of S1 as a ‘continuous spectrum’ with evidence supporting a functional boundary between areas 3b and 1. The identification of this topography bridges the gap between structure and connectivity, and may be used to help further current understanding of sensorimotor deficits.

【 授权许可】

Unknown