OVERLAPPING CONNECTIONS OF MOTOR CORTICAL AREAS WITHIN THE PUTAMEN : AN fMRI AND PROBABILISTIC TRACTOGRAPHY STUDY

概要

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Background and purpose: To investigate whether projections of motor cortical areas on the striatum are overlapped of segregated, we examined the organization of connectivity of the supplementary motor area (SMA) and sensorimotor cortex (SMC) including the lateral premotor and primary motor cortices, with the putamen. Materials and methods: Five healthy subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and activated clusters during self-initiated, sequential finger to thumb opposition movement of the left hand were identified. These functionally defined clusters were applied to probabilistic tractography to examine patterns of connectivity of the SMA and SMC with the putamen. Results: The fMRI analysis showed a set of activated clusters in the SMA, SMC and putamen in three subjects. Probabilistic tractography revealed similar patterns of connectivity of the SMA and SMC with the putamen. Spatial mapping showed that a large putaminal region had a suprathreshould probability of connections to both the SMA and SMC. Conclusion: The present findings suggest that neuronal projections of the SMA and SMC are overlapped, at least in part, on the putamen. This may implicate that neuronal information from the SMA and SMC is integrated and funneled at the striatal level.
2010-05-06