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Structural Connectivity Changes After Fornix Transection in Macaques Using Probabilistic Diffusion Tractography

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GeNeDis 2022 (GeNeDis 2022)

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1423))

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Abstract

The fornix, the limbic system’s white matter tract connecting the extended hippocampal system to subcortical structures of the medial diencephalon, is strongly associated with learning and memory in humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs). Here, we sought to investigate alterations in structural connectivity across key cortical and subcortical regions after fornix transection in NHPs. We collected diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) data from three macaque monkeys that underwent bilateral fornix transection during neurosurgery and from four age- and cohort-matched control macaques that underwent surgery to implant a head-post but remained neurologically intact. dMRI data were collected from both groups at two time points, before and after the surgeries, and scans took place at around the same time for the two groups. We used probabilistic tractography and employed the number of tracking streamlines to quantify connectivity across our regions of interest (ROIs), in all dMRI sessions. In the neurologically intact monkeys, we observed high connectivity across certain ROIs, including the CA3 hippocampal subfield with the retrosplenial cortex (RSC), the anterior thalamus with the RSC, and the RSC with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, we found that, compared to the control group, the fornix-transected monkeys showed marked, significant, connectivity changes including increases between the anterior thalamus and the ACC and between the CA3 and the ACC, as well as decreases between the CA3 and the RSC. Our results highlight cortical and subcortical network changes after fornix transection and identify candidate indirect connectivity routes that may support memory functions after damage and/or neurodegeneration.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Vassilis Pelekanos

  2. Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Elsie Premereur

  3. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anna S. Mitchell

  4. Department of Psychology, Hearing and Speech, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Anna S. Mitchell

Authors
  1. Vassilis Pelekanos
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  2. Elsie Premereur
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  3. Anna S. Mitchell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vassilis Pelekanos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece

    Panagiotis Vlamos

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Pelekanos, V., Premereur, E., Mitchell, A.S. (2023). Structural Connectivity Changes After Fornix Transection in Macaques Using Probabilistic Diffusion Tractography. In: Vlamos, P. (eds) GeNeDis 2022. GeNeDis 2022. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1423. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31978-5_2

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