The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a New-World monkey of growing interest in neuroscience. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential tool to unveil the anatomical and functional organization of the marmoset brain. To facilitate identification of regions of interest, it is desirable to register MR images to an atlas of the brain. However, currently available atlases of the marmoset brain are mainly based on 2D histological data, which are difficult to apply to 3D imaging techniques. Here, we constructed a 3D digital atlas based on high-resolution ex-vivo MRI images, including magnetization transfer ratio (a T1-like contrast), T2w images, and multi-shell diffusion MRI. Based on the multi-modal MRI images, we manually delineated 54 cortical areas and 16 subcortical regions on one hemisphere of the brain (the core version). The 54 cortical areas were merged into 13 larger cortical regions according to their locations to yield a coarse version of the atlas, and also parcellated into 106 sub-regions using a connectivity-based parcellation method to produce a refined atlas. Finally, we compared the new atlas set with existing histology atlases and demonstrated its applications in connectome studies, and in resting state and stimulus-based fMRI. The atlas set has been integrated into the widely-distributed neuroimaging data analysis software AFNI and SUMA, providing a readily usable multi-modal template space with multi-level anatomical labels (including labels from the Paxinos atlas) that can facilitate various neuroimaging studies of marmosets.
While the fundamental importance of the white matter in supporting neuronal communication is well known, existing publications of primate brains do not feature a detailed description of its complex anatomy. The main barrier is that existing primate neuroimaging data have insufficient spatial resolution to resolve white matter pathways fully. Here, we present a resource that allows detailed descriptions of white matter structures and trajectories of fiber-pathways in the marmoset brain. The resource includes: (1) the highest resolution diffusion MRI (dMRI) data available to date, which reveal white matter features not previously described; (2) a comprehensive 3D white matter atlas depicting fiber-pathways that were either omitted or misidentified in previous atlases; and (3) comprehensive fiber-pathway maps of cortical connections combining dMRI tractography and neuronal tracing data. The resource, which can be downloaded from marmosetbrainmapping.org , will facilitate studies of brain connectivity and the development of tractography algorithms in the primate brain.
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