Functionally defined white matter of the macaque monkey brain reveals a dorso-ventral attention network.

ABSTRACT: Classical studies of attention have identified areas of parietal and frontal cortex as sources of attentional control. Recently, a ventral region in the macaque temporal cortex, the posterior infero-temporal dorsal area PITd, has been suggested as a third attentional control area. This raises the question of whether and how spatially distant areas coordinate a joint focus of attention. Here we tested the hypothesis that parieto-frontal attention areas and PITd are directly interconnected. By combining functional MRI with ex-vivo high-resolution diffusion MRI, we found that PITd and dorsal attention areas are all directly connected through three specific fascicles. These results ascribe a new function, the communication of attention signals, to two known fiber-bundles, highlight the importa

SUBMITTER: Sani I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6345568 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature