Functional connectivity fingerprints of the human pulvinar: Decoding its role in cognition

Guedj, Carole; Vuilleumier, Patrik

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117162

Cited by 37 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 94 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The pulvinar nuclei can be divided into four subdivisions (anterior, medial, lateral, and inferior) with distinct connections and functions. The PuA subdivision is connected to the somatosensory cortex and is functionally involved in sensorimotor functions, especially motor selection and programming functions (52). Moreover, PuA nuclei are associated with networks implicated in cognition, such as language and task-related performance (53,54), which suggests that the increased dynamic FC fluctuations between the left PuA nuclei and IFG observed in the PD patients in our study may be associated with motor planning and programming dysfunctions.…”

Section: Dynamic Fc Between the Thalamic Nuclei And Other Brain Regions In Pdmentioning

confidence: 54%

More Than Just Static: Dynamic Functional Connectivity Changes of the Thalamic Nuclei to Cortex in Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The thalamus is not only a key relay node of the thalamocortical circuit but also a hub in the regulation of gait. Previous studies of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown static functional connectivity (FC) between the thalamus and the cortex are disrupted in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with freezing of gait (FOG). However, temporal dynamic FC between the thalamus and the cortex has not yet been characterized in these patients.Methods: Fifty PD patients, including 25 PD patients with FOG (PD-FOG) and 25 PD patients without FOG (PD-NFOG), and 25 healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state fMRI. Seed-voxel-wise static and dynamic FC were calculated between each thalamic nuclei and other voxels across the brain using the 14 thalamic nuclei in both hemispheres as regions of interest. Associations between altered thalamic FC based on significant inter-group differences and severity of FOG symptoms were also examined in PD-FOG.Results: Both PD-FOG and PD-NFOG showed lower static FC between the right lateral posterior thalamic nuclei and right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) compared with HC. Altered FC dynamics between the thalamic nuclei and several cortical areas were identified in PD-FOG, as shown by temporal dynamic FC analyses. Specifically, relative to PD-NFOG or HC, PD-FOG showed greater fluctuations in FC between the left intralaminar (IL) nuclei and right IPL and between the left medial geniculate and left postcentral gyrus. Furthermore, the dynamics of FC between the left pulvinar anterior nuclei and left inferior frontal gyrus were upregulated in both PD-FOG and PD-NFOG. The dynamics of FC between the right ventral lateral nuclei and left paracentral lobule were elevated in PD-NFOG but were maintained in PD-FOG and HC. The quantitative variability of FC between the left IL nuclei and right IPL was positively correlated with the clinical scales scores in PD-FOG.Conclusions: Dynamic FC between the thalamic nuclei and relevant associative cortical areas involved in sensorimotor integration or cognitive function was disrupted in PD-FOG, which was reflected by greater temporal fluctuations. Abnormal dynamic FC between the left IL nuclei of the thalamus and right IPL was related to the severity of FOG.

show abstract

Section: Dynamic Fc Between the Thalamic Nuclei And Other Brain Regions In Pdmentioning

confidence: 54%

More Than Just Static: Dynamic Functional Connectivity Changes of the Thalamic Nuclei to Cortex in Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It's possible that these S1 to thalamus functional relationships adapt and respond to therapy over longer timescales in chronic pain conditions, potentially reflecting affective and cognitive, rather than somatosensory, processes supported by S1 to pulvinar connectivity. A recent functional parcellation of the thalamus places the cluster identified in our analysis predominantly in the ventromedial pulvinar nucleus ( 42 ). A Neurosynth meta-analytic topic map ( 43 ) suggests that this ROI has also been found to be activated in prior fMRI studies in emotion and pain topic areas ( 42 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…A recent functional parcellation of the thalamus places the cluster identified in our analysis predominantly in the ventromedial pulvinar nucleus ( 42 ). A Neurosynth meta-analytic topic map ( 43 ) suggests that this ROI has also been found to be activated in prior fMRI studies in emotion and pain topic areas ( 42 ). The ventromedial pulvinar is largely composed of matrix cells which have diffuse but widely distributed connections to the cortex ( 44 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

S1 Brain Connectivity in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Underlies Median Nerve and Functional Improvement Following Electro-Acupuncture

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a median nerve entrapment neuropathy that alters primary somatosensory cortex (S1) organization. While electro-acupuncture (EA), a form of peripheral neuromodulation, has been shown to improve clinical and neurophysiological CTS outcomes, the role of EA-evoked brain response during therapy (within and beyond S1) for improved outcomes is unknown. We investigated S1-associated whole brain fMRI connectivity during both a resting and sustained EA stimulation state in age-matched healthy controls (N = 28) and CTS patients (N = 64), at baseline and after 8 weeks of acupuncture therapy (local, distal, or sham EA). Compared to healthy controls, CTS patients at baseline showed decreased resting state functional connectivity between S1 and thalamic pulvinar nucleus. Increases in S1/pulvinar connectivity strength following verum EA therapy (combined local and distal) were correlated with improvements in median nerve velocity (r = 0.38, p = 0.035). During sustained local EA, compared to healthy controls, CTS patients demonstrated increased functional connectivity between S1 and anterior hippocampus (aHipp). Following 8 weeks of local EA therapy, S1/aHipp connectivity significantly decreased and greater decrease was associated with improvement in patients' functional status (r = 0.64, p = 0.01) and increased median nerve velocity (r = −0.62, p = 0.013). Thus, connectivity between S1 and other brain areas is also disrupted in CTS patients and may be improved following EA therapy. Furthermore, stimulus-evoked fMRI connectivity adds therapy-specific, mechanistic insight to more common resting state connectivity approaches. Specifically, local EA modulates S1 connectivity to sensory and affective processing regions, linked to patient function and median nerve health.

show abstract

“…PulN is anatomically divided into discrete, functionally differentiated subdivisions (e.g. 31,32 ). For example, the ‘visual pulvinar’, consisting of its inferior (PI) and lateral (PL) subdivisions, has dense connections with early visual sensory regions 32 and likely plays a modulatory role in visual information processing 33 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…31,32 ). For example, the ‘visual pulvinar’, consisting of its inferior (PI) and lateral (PL) subdivisions, has dense connections with early visual sensory regions 32 and likely plays a modulatory role in visual information processing 33 . In addition, projections from PI specifically innervate motion sensitive regions surrounding area MT, especially MST 34 , and also serve as drivers to secondary areas of visual cortex (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disease-specific contribution of pulvinar dysfunction to impaired emotion recognition in schizophrenia

Martı́nez

Tobe

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One important aspect for managing social interactions is the ability to rapidly and accurately perceive and respond to facial expressions, which is highly dependent upon intact processing within both cortical and subcortical components of the early visual pathways. Social cognitive deficits, including face emotion recognition (FER) deficits, are characteristic of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia (Sz) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we investigated potential visual sensory contributions to FER deficits in Sz (n=28) and adult ASD (n=20) participants compared to neurotypical (n=30) controls using task-based fMRI during an implicit static/dynamic FER task. Compared to neurotypical controls, both Sz and ASD participants had significantly lower FER scores which interrelated with diminished activation of the superior temporal sulcus (STS). In Sz, STS deficits were predicted by reduced activation of both early visual regions and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus, along with impaired cortico-pulvinar interaction. By contrast, ASD participants showed patterns of increased early visual cortical and pulvinar activation. Large effect-size structural and histological abnormalities of pulvinar have previously been documented in Sz. Moreover, we have recently demonstrated impaired pulvinar activation to simple visual stimuli in Sz. Here, we provide the first demonstration of a disease-specific contribution of impaired pulvinar activation to social cognitive impairment in Sz.

show abstract

Functional connectivity fingerprints of the human pulvinar: Decoding its role in cognition

Cited by 37 publications

References 94 publications

More Than Just Static: Dynamic Functional Connectivity Changes of the Thalamic Nuclei to Cortex in Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait

More Than Just Static: Dynamic Functional Connectivity Changes of the Thalamic Nuclei to Cortex in Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait

S1 Brain Connectivity in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Underlies Median Nerve and Functional Improvement Following Electro-Acupuncture

Disease-specific contribution of pulvinar dysfunction to impaired emotion recognition in schizophrenia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About