Abstract
Introduction
The definitive structure and comprehensive role of the uncinate fasciculus (UF) are still obscure. We aimed to map the human UF white matter tractography and investigate the asymmetry, connectivity, and segmentation of the UF.
Methods
Subcomponents of the UF were analyzed in 9 normal subjects and a 30-subject diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) template (CMU-30). DSI and microdissection were performed to explore the tractography of the UF.
Results
Both methods revealed that it connects the anterior part of the temporal lobe (superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole) with the inferior frontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. The UF starts at the temporal gyrus, runs inferiorly to the inferior frontal occipital fasciculus and splits into two branches, terminating in the ventrolateral frontal cortex and the rostral middle frontal cortex. Our study showed that the cortical areas of termination in the frontal lobe of the UF are the pars triangularis and pars orbitalis. The relative volume of the UF in both hemispheres was calculated. An independent t test was used to determine variances in the value of tract volume between the left and right hemispheres. The volume and the length showed a significant statistical difference in the total volume of the UF. We suggest the UF is leftward asymmetry.
Conclusions
The two parts of the UF were divided, but the conclusion is not consistent with the previous published articles which have shown that the UF is segmented into three parts. Our research facilitates a better understanding of the UF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- UF:
-
Uncinate fasciculus
- BA:
-
Brodmann area
- DSI:
-
Diffusion spectrum imaging
- DTI:
-
Diffusion tensor imaging
- GQI:
-
Generalized q-sampling imaging
- IFOF:
-
Inferior frontal occipital fasciculus
- STG:
-
Superior temporal gyrus
- MTG:
-
Middle temporal gyrus
- TP:
-
Temporal pole
References
Ebeling U, von Cramon D (1992) Topography of the uncinate fascicle and adjacent temporal fiber tracts. Acta Neurochir 115:143–148
Von Der Heide RJ, Skipper LM, Klobusicky E, Olson IR (2013) Dissecting the uncinate fasciculus: disorders, controversies and a hypothesis. Brain 136:1692–1707
Peltier J, Verclytte S, Delmaire C, Pruvo J-P, Godefroy O, Le Gars D (2010) Microsurgical anatomy of the temporal stem: clinical relevance and correlations with diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking laboratory investigation. J Neurosurg 112:1033–1038
Kier EL, Staib LH, Davis LM, Bronen RA (2004) MR imaging of the temporal stem: anatomic dissection tractography of the uncinate fasciculus, inferior occipitofrontal fasciculus, and Meyer’s loop of the optic radiation. Am J Neuroradiol 25:677–691
Thiebaut de Schotten M, Dell’Acqua F, Valabregue R, Catani M (2012) Monkey to human comparative anatomy of the frontal lobe association tracts. Cortex 48:82–96
Croxson PL, Johansen-Berg H, Behrens TEJ, Robson MD, Pinsk MA, Gross CG, Richter W, Richter MC, Kastner S, Rushworth MFS (2005) Quantitative investigation of connections of the prefrontal cortex in the human and macaque using probabilistic diffusion tractography. J Neurosci 25:8854–8866
Martino J, De Witt Hamer PC, Vergani F, Brogna C, de Lucas EM, Vazquez-Barquero A, Garcia-Porrero JA, Duffau H (2011) Cortex-sparing fiber dissection: an improved method for the study of white matter anatomy in the human brain. J Anat 219:531–541
Schmahmann JD, Pandya DN, Wang R, Dai G, D’Arceuil HE, de Crespigny AJ, Wedeen VJ (2007) Association fibre pathways of the brain: parallel observations from diffusion spectrum imaging and autoradiography. Brain 130:630–653
Catani M, Howard RJ, Pajevic S, Jones DK (2002) Virtual in vivo interactive dissection of white matter fasciculi in the human brain. Neuroimage 17:77–94
Kubicki M, Westin C-F, Maier SE, Frumin M, Nestor PG, Salisbury DF, Kikinis R, Jolesz FA, McCarley RW, Shenton ME (2002) Uncinate fasciculus findings in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging study. Am J Psychiatry 159:813–820
Herve P-Y, Crivello F, Perchey G, Mazoyer B, Tzourio-Mazoyer N (2006) Handedness and cerebral anatomical asymmetries in young adult males. Neuroimage 29:1066–1079
Kubicki M, Westin CF, Maier S, Frumin M, Nestor P, Salisbury D, Kikinis R, Jolesz F, McCarley RW, Shenton ME (2002) Uncinate fasciculus findings in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging study. Schizophr Res 53:88
Hasan KM, Iftikhar A, Kamali A, Kramer LA, Ashtari M, Cirino PT, Papanicolaou AC, Fletcher JM, Ewing-Cobbs L (2009) Development and aging of the healthy human brain uncinate fasciculus across the lifespan using diffusion tensor tractography. Brain Res 1276:67–76
Park H-J, Westin C-F, Kubicki M, Maier SE, Niznikiewicz M, Baer A, Frumin M, Kikinis R, Jolesz FA, McCarley RW, Shenton ME (2004) White matter hemisphere asymmetries in healthy subjects and in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor MRI study. Neuroimage 23:213–223
Highley JR, Walker MA, Esiri MM, Crow TJ, Harrison PJ (2002) Asymmetry of the uncinate fasciculus: a post-mortem study of normal subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Cereb Cortex 12:1218–1224
Yeh F-C, Tseng W-YI (2011) NTU-90: a high angular resolution brain atlas constructed by q-space diffeomorphic reconstruction. Neuroimage 58:91–99
Fonov V, Evans AC, Botteron K, Almli R, McKinstry RC, Collins DL (2011) Unbiased average age-appropriate atlases for pediatric studies. Neuroimage 54:313–327
Kier EL, Staib LH, Davis LM, Bronen R (2004) Anatomic dissection tractography: a new method for precise MR localization of white matter tracts. Am J Neuroradiol 25:670–676
Martino J, Brogna C, Robles S, Vergani F, Duffau H (2010) Anatomic dissection of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus revisited in the lights of brain stimulation data. Cortex 46:691–699
Dick AS, Tremblay P (2012) Beyond the arcuate fasciculus: consensus and controversy in the connectional anatomy of language. Brain 135:3529–3550
Wedeen VJ, Wang RP, Schmahmann JD, Benner T, Tseng WYI, Dai G, Pandya DN, Hagmann P, Arceuil HD, de Crespigny AJ (2008) Diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging (DSI) tractography of crossing fibers. Neuroimage 41:1267–1277
Yeh F-C, Wedeen VJ, Tseng WYI (2010) Generalized q-sampling imaging. Ieee Trans Med Imaging 29:1626–1635
Fernandez-Miranda JC, Pathak S, Engh J, Jarbo K, Verstynen T, Yeh F-C, Wang Y, Mintz A, Boada F, Schneider W, Friedlander R (2012) High-definition fiber tractography of the human brain: neuroanatomical validation and neurosurgical applications. Neurosurgery 71:430–453
Nimsky C, Christopher (2013) Differences between generalized Q-sampling imaging and diffusion tensor imaging in the preoperative visualization of the nerve fiber tracts within peritumoral edema in brain COMMENT. Neurosurgery 73:1053
Petrides M, Pandya DN (2002) Comparative cytoarchitectonic analysis of the human and the macaque ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and corticocortical connection patterns in the monkey. Eur J Neurosci 16:291–310
Rodrigo S, Oppenheim C, Chassoux F, Golestani N, Cointepas Y, Poupon C, Semah F, Mangin JF, Le Bihan D (2007) Uncinate fasciculus fiber tracking in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Initial findings. Eur Radiol 17:1663–1668
Grossman M, McMillan C, Moore P, Ding L, Glosser G, Work M, Gee J (2004) What’s in a name: voxel-based morphometric analyses of MRI and naming difficulty in Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and corticobasal degeneration. Brain 127:628–649
Catani M, Mesulam M (2008) The arcuate fasciculus and the disconnection theme in language and aphasia: history and current state. Cortex 44:953–961
Badre D, Wagner AD (2007) Left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the cognitive control of memory. Neuropsychologia 45:2883–2901
Papagno C (2011) Naming and the role of the uncinate fasciculus in language function. Curr Neurol Neurosci 11:553–559
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81070965 and No. 30700249 to Dr Wang) and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation of Youth Science Foundation (No. 81000565 to Dr Wang).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
We declare that all human studies have been approved by the ethics committee at the China Medical University and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. We declare that all patients gave informed consent prior to inclusion in this study.
Conflict of interest
We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leng, B., Han, S., Bao, Y. et al. The uncinate fasciculus as observed using diffusion spectrum imaging in the human brain. Neuroradiology 58, 595–606 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-016-1650-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-016-1650-9