Fundamental functional differences between gyri and sulci: implications for brain function, cognition, and behavior

Abstract

Folding of the cerebral cortex is a prominent characteristic of mammalian brains. Alterations or deficits in cortical folding are strongly correlated with abnormal brain function, cognition, and behavior. Therefore, a precise mapping between the anatomy and function of the brain is critical to our understanding of the mechanisms of brain structural architecture in both health and diseases. Gyri and sulci, the standard nomenclature for cortical anatomy, serve as building blocks to make up complex folding patterns, providing a window to decipher cortical anatomy and its relation with brain functions. Huge efforts have been devoted to this research topic from a variety of disciplines including genetics, cell biology, anatomy, neuroimaging, and neurology, as well as involving computational approaches based on machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. However, despite increasing progress, our understanding of the functional anatomy of gyro-sulcal patterns is still in its infancy. In this review, we present the current state of this field and provide our perspectives of the methodologies and conclusions concerning functional differentiation between gyri and sulci, as well as the supporting information from genetic, cell biology, and brain structure research. In particular, we will further present a proposed framework for attempting to interpret the dynamic mechanisms of the functional interplay between gyri and sulci. Hopefully, this review will provide a comprehensive summary of anatomo-functional relationships in the cortical gyro-sulcal system together with a consideration of how these contribute to brain function, cognition, and behavior, as well as to mental disorders.

Towards Deciphering the Fetal Foundation of Normal Cognition and Cognitive Symptoms From Sulcation of the Cortex

“…For instance, the central sulcus separates the somatosensory cortex from the motor cortex, the calcarine sulcus separates the superior and inferior visual hemifields and even in the very complex and variable prefrontal cortices, the cortex sulcation influences the functional organization (Li et al, 2015 ; Lopez-Persem et al, 2019 ). In addition, functional differences (time-frequency activity, connectivity) exist between sulcal and gyral areas (Jiang et al, 2021 ).…”

Common and distinct neurofunctional representations of core and social disgust in the brain: Coordinate-based and network meta-analyses

“…Initial studies reported e.g., stronger disgust-related inferior frontal reactivity in women (Caseras et al, 2007), while other studies did not find sex differences (Baumann and Mattingley, 2012; Schienle et al, 2005a; Stark et al, 2003). Lastly, the present study included task-based fMRI studies focusing on regional analyses, while recent advanced approaches and findings suggest a distributed neural representation (Zhou et al, 2021) or a functional division between gyri and sulci (Jiang et al, 2015; Jiang et al, 2018; Jiang et al, 2021) of cognitive and emotional processes. Future studies may capitalize on these developments to further dissect common and differential neural representation of social and non-social processes or different defensive responses such as disgust and fear.…”

Exploring the emergence of morphological asymmetries around the brain’s Sylvian fissure: a longitudinal study of shape variability in preterm infants

“…In parallel, correlations between functional specialization and anatomical properties have already been demonstrated using sulcal pattern as an anatomical landmark (Mangin et al, 2015;Jiang et al, 2021), with recent studies showing interesting population-wise tendencies. For example, an asymmetrical configuration of either the anterior cingulate cortex (inducing a more prominent paracingulate sulcus in the left hemisphere than in the right), or the inferior frontal sulcus's pattern (with one continuous and one interrupted, interdependently of the hemisphere) seem to be related to a better inhibitory control in children and adults (Tissier et al, 2019).…”

“…In parallel, correlations between functional specialization and anatomical properties have already been demonstrated using sulcal pattern as an anatomical landmark (Mangin et al, 2015;Jiang et al, . CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license made available under a (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.…”