Longchuan Li1, James
Rilling2, Todd Preuss3,
1School of
Medicine, Emory University/Georiga Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA;
2Division of Psychobiology, Yerkes National Primate Research
Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; 3Division of Neuroscience, Yerkes
National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; 4Department of
Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
Estimating interregional structural connections of the brain via diffusion tractography can be a complex procedure and chosen parameters may affect the outcomes of the connectivity matrix. Here, we investigated the influence of reconstruction method on connectivity maps of brain networks. Specifically, we applied three reconstruction methods, i.e., initiating tracking from deep white matter (method #1, M1), from gray matter/white matter interface (M2), and from gray matter /white matter interface with thresholded tract volume (M3) as the connectivity index, on the same set of diffusion MR data. Hub identification was then calculated and compared across methods. Despite moderate to high correlations in the graph theoretic measures across different methods, significant variability was observed in the identified hubs, highlighting the importance of including reconstruction method as a variable influencing network parameters across studies. Consistent with the prior reports, left precuneus was unanimously identified as a hub region in all three methods, suggesting its prominent structural role in brain networks.