vinod kumar1,2, Michael Erb1, Sudhir Pathak3, Wolfgang Grodd1
1Section Exp. MR of the CNS, Universtiy of tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; 2Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences | International Max Planck Research School, Universtiy of tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; 3LRDC, Universtiy of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
Post-mortem connectivity based methods demonstrate that the cerebellar dentate nuclei act as the main center of communication to the cerebral cortex. Dentate nuclei have a contralateral connection with the cerebral cortex. However, direct invivo diffusion imaging of this crossing and of the dentate projections to the cortex via crossing is lacking. diffusion-tractography with integration of resting-state-fMRI is used to investigate the dentate-thalamocortical circuit. The results inflect the dentate nuclei connectivity with the contralateral cortical regions via the thalamic nuclei i.e. motor, posterior-parietal, frontal, and temporal regions. In the study, connectivity based organization about the output-channels within the dentate is introduced. The study holds promise for clinical applications.
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