Abstract #0044

Tractography-based parcellations show limited sensitivity to internal structure

Jonathan D Clayden¹, David L Thomas², and Alexander Kraskov³

¹Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Neuroradiological Academic Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Connectivity-based parcellation of subcortical structures using diffusion tractography is a common paradigm. Typically, these analyses imply voxel-level specificity of connectivity, and spatial coherence is taken as imaging-based evidence for anatomically distinct subnuclei. However, by spatially permuting diffusion parameters and repeating the parcellation, we demonstrate that internal structure in diffusion anisotropy is not necessary for a plausible parcellation to be obtained. This suggests that such parcellations should be interpreted with some caution.

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