Dissertation committee:
Πιάγκου Μαρία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια , Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Στράντζαλης Γεώργιος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Τρουπής Θεόδωρος, Καθηγήτης, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Πρωτογέρου Βασίλειος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Δεμέστιχα Θεανώ, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Γούτας Νικόλαος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Βλαχοδημητρόπουλος Δημήτριος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
OBJECTIVE
To reveal the intrinsic architecture, morphology and spatial relationship of the white matter pathways implicated in the connectivity of motor/premotor cortex and SMA/pre-SMA complex that remains vague to this day.
METHODS
Thirty normal, adult, formalin-fixed cerebral hemispheres were explored through the fiber micro- dissection technique. Lateral to medial and medial to lateral dissections were performed in a tandem manner and under the surgical microscope.
RESULTS
We traced the subcortical architecture, spatial relationships and axonal connectivity of four major pathways: a) the dorsal component of the SLF (SLF-I) was found to reside in the medial aspect of the hemisphere and seen to connect the precuneus with the SMA and pre-SMA complex, b) the Frontal Longitudinal System (FLS) was consistently encountered as the natural anterior continuation of the SLF- II and SLF-III and connected the premotor and prefrontal cortices c) the Fronto-caudate Tract (FCT),a fan-shaped tract, was documented to participate in the connectivity of the prefrontal and premotor cortices to the head and body of the caudate nucleus and d) the Cortico-tegmental Tract(CTT) was invariably recorded to subserve the connectivity of the tegmental area with the motor/premotor areas and fronto- parietal cortex. No hemispheric asymmetries were recorded for any of the implicated pathways. Sub- segmentation systems were also introduced for each of the aforementioned tracts.
CONCLUSIONS
The structural connectivity and functional specialization of motor and premotor areas in the human brain remains vague to this day as most of the available evidence derives either from animal or tractographic studies. By using the fiber-microdissection technique as our main method of investigation, we provide sound structural evidence on the delicate anatomy of the related white matter pathways.
Keywords:
Fiber tract, Motor cortex, Premotor cortex, Connectivity, White matter
