RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Focal Pontine Lesions Provide Evidence That Intrinsic Functional Connectivity Reflects Polysynaptic Anatomical Pathways
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 15065
OP 15071
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2364-11.2011
VO 31
IS 42
A1 Lu, Jie
A1 Liu, Hesheng
A1 Zhang, Miao
A1 Wang, Danhong
A1 Cao, Yanxiang
A1 Ma, Qingfeng
A1 Rong, Dongdong
A1 Wang, Xiaoyi
A1 Buckner, Randy L.
A1 Li, Kuncheng
YR 2011
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/42/15065.abstract
AB Intrinsic functional connectivity detected by functional MRI (fMRI) provides a useful but indirect approach to study the organization of human brain systems. An unresolved question is whether functional connectivity measured by resting-state fMRI reflects anatomical connections. In this study, we used the well-characterized anatomy of cerebrocerebellar circuits to directly test whether intrinsic functional connectivity is associated with an anatomic pathway. Eleven first-episode stroke patients were scanned five times during a period of 6 months, and 11 healthy control subjects were scanned three times within 1 month. In patients with right pontine strokes, the functional connectivity between the right motor cortex and the left cerebellum was selectively reduced. This connectivity pattern was reversed in patients with left pontine strokes. Although factors beyond anatomical connectivity contribute to fMRI measures of functional correlation, these results provide direct evidence that functional connectivity depends on intact connections within a specific polysynaptic pathway.