Su-Chun Huang1, Fang-Chen Yeh2, Wei-Tang Chang3, Fa-Hsuan Lin3, Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng1,2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University,, Taipei, Taiwan
The study used diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) tractography, with the locations of cortical regions of default mode network (DMN) provided by resting-state fMRI, to map out the complete connective fiber structures of the whole DMN in human brain. The results showed that medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulated cortex/ retrosplenial cortex (PCC/RSC) were connected by cingulum bundles. PCC/RSC and medial temporal lobe (MTL) were connected by inferior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Bilateral MTLs were connected by tapetum of corpus callosum. The MPFC and bilateral MTLs were connected by stria terminalis and medial forebrain bundle. Tract between bilateral PCC/RSC is splenium of corpus callosum and tract between bilateral MPFC is genu of corpus callosum. These tracts were found to involve the limbic system pathways on each hemisphere and commissural fibers connecting bilateral hemispheres.