Abstract
The frontal aslant tract (FAT) is a white matter tract connecting the superior frontal gyrus (SFG) to the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Its dorsal origin is identified in humans in the medial wall of the SFG, in the supplementary motor complex (SM-complex). However, empirical observation shows that many FAT fibres appear to originate from the dorsal, rather than medial, portion of the SFG. We quantitatively investigated the actual origin of FAT fibres in the SFG, specifically discriminating between terminations in the medial wall and in the convexity of the SFG. We analysed data from 105 subjects obtained from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) database. We parcelled the cortex of the IFG, dorsal SFG and medial SFG in several regions of interest (ROIs) ordered in a caudal-rostral direction, which served as seed locations for the generation of streamlines. Diffusion imaging data (DWI) was processed using a multi-shell multi-tissue CSD-based algorithm. Results showed that the number of streamlines originating from the dorsal wall of the SFG significantly exceeds those from the medial wall of the SFG. Connectivity patterns between ROIs indicated that FAT sub-bundles are segregated in parallel circuits ordered in a caudal-rostral direction. Such high degree of coherence in the streamline trajectory allows to establish pairs of homologous cortical parcels in the SFG and IFG. We conclude that the frontal origin of the FAT is found in both dorsal and medial surfaces of the superior frontal gyrus.
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Data availability
The DW images used in the present work have been obtained from the human connectome project database and are freely available at the following address: https://www.humanconnectome.org/study/hcp-young-adult. The ID number from HCP subjects, the custom-made cortical ROIs (in .voi format) and the main numerical results are available at the OSF repository at the following address: https://osf.io/hejmv/. All other data generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.
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Funding
The present work was supported by the BIAL Foundation (www.fundacaobial.com)- Grant nº 150/20 entitled “A swing between the inner and the outer worlds: exploring the function of the frontal aslant tract” awarded to LC.
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L.C. designed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. M.T analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript, G.A. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript, L.V. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript, P.A. designed the study and wrote the manuscript, D.G. designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Tagliaferri, M., Amorosino, G., Voltolini, L. et al. A revision of the dorsal origin of the frontal aslant tract (FAT) in the superior frontal gyrus: a DWI-tractographic study. Brain Struct Funct 229, 987–999 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-024-02778-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-024-02778-4