Computational neuroanatomy is an emerging field that utilizes various non-invasive brain imaging modalities, such as MRI and DTI, in quantifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of the human brain ...structures in both normal and clinical populations. This discipline emerged about twenty years ago and has made substantial progress in the past decade. The main goals of this book are to provide an overview of various mathematical, statistical and computational methodologies used in the field to a wide range of researchers and students, and to address important yet technically challenging topics in further detail.
There is a lack of consensus on anatomical nomenclature, standards of documentation, and functional equivalence of the frontal cortex between species. There remains a major gap between human ...prefrontal function and interpretation of findings in the mouse brain that appears to lack several key prefrontal areas involved in cognition and psychiatric illnesses. The ferret is an emerging model organism that has gained traction as an intermediate model species for the study of top-down cognitive control and other higher-order brain functions. However, this research has yet to benefit from synthesis. Here, we provide a summary of all published research pertaining to the frontal and/or prefrontal cortex of the ferret across research scales. The targeted location within the ferret brain is summarized visually for each experiment, and the anatomical terminology used at time of publishing is compared to what would be the appropriate term to use presently. By doing so, we hope to improve clarity in the interpretation of both previous and future publications on the comparative study of frontal cortex.
•Research of the ferret prefrontal cortex spans all research scales.•The ferret is an advantageous model to study neurophysiological underpinnings of top-down executive control and neurodevelopment.•Anatomical targetting within the ferret brain is summarized visually for all studies identified in this systematic review.•Anatomical terminology used at time of publishing is compared to what would be the appropriate term to use presently.
•Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) train students on research.•A CURE on brain mapping (BMC) is taught at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).•BMC mirrors a course once ...taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (JHUMS).•UTEP/JHUMS course curricula are unique in teaching similar brain mapping methods.•Atlas-based brain mapping by BMC students prevents it from becoming a “lost art”.
Recent efforts to reform postsecondary STEM education in the U.S. have resulted in the creation of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), which, among other outcomes, have successfully retained freshmen in their chosen STEM majors and provided them with a greater sense of identity as scientists by enabling them to experience how research is conducted in a laboratory setting. In 2014, we launched our own laboratory-based CURE, Brain Mapping & Connectomics (BMC). Now in its seventh year, BMC trains University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) undergraduates to identify and label neuron populations in the rat brain, analyze their cytoarchitecture, and draw their detailed chemoarchitecture onto standardized rat brain atlas maps in stereotaxic space. Significantly, some BMC students produce atlas drawings derived from their coursework or from further independent study after the course that are being presented and/or published in the scientific literature. These maps should prove useful to neuroscientists seeking to experimentally target elusive neuron populations. Here, we review the procedures taught in BMC that have empowered students to learn about the scientific process. We contextualize our efforts with those similarly carried out over a century ago to reform U.S. medical education. Notably, we have uncovered historical records that highlight interesting resonances between our curriculum and that created at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School (JHUMS) in the 1890s. Although the two programs are over a century apart and were created for students of differing career levels, many aspects between them are strikingly similar, including the unique atlas-based brain mapping methods they encouraged students to learn. A notable example of these efforts was the brain atlas maps published by Florence Sabin, a JHUMS student who later became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. We conclude by discussing how the revitalization of century-old methods and their dissemination to the next generation of scientists in BMC not only provides student benefit and academic development, but also acts to preserve what are increasingly becoming “lost arts” critical for advancing neuroscience – brain histology, cytoarchitectonics, and atlas-based mapping of novel brain structure.
A complex brain is central to the success of backboned animals. However, direct evidence bearing on vertebrate brain evolution comes almost exclusively from extant species, leaving substantial ...knowledge gaps. Although rare, soft-tissue preservation in fossils can yield unique insights on patterns of neuroanatomical evolution. Paleontological evidence from an exceptionally preserved Pennsylvanian (∼318 Ma) actinopterygian, Coccocephalus, calls into question prior interpretations of ancestral actinopterygian brain conditions. However, the ordering and timing of major evolutionary innovations, such as an everted telencephalon, modified meningeal tissues, and hypothalamic inferior lobes, remain unclear. Here, we report two distinct actinopterygian morphotypes from the latest Carboniferous-earliest Permian (∼299 Ma) of Brazil that show extensive soft-tissue preservation of brains, cranial nerves, eyes, and potential cardiovascular tissues. These fossils corroborate inferences drawn from ✝Coccocephalus, while adding new information about neuroanatomical evolution. Skeletal features indicate that one of these Brazilian morphotypes is more closely related to living actinopterygians than the other, which is also reflected in soft-tissue features. Significantly, the more crownward morphotype shows a key neuroanatomical feature of extant actinopterygians—an everted telencephalon—that is absent in the other morphotype and ✝Coccocephalus. All preserved Paleozoic actinopterygian brains show broad similarities, including an invaginated cerebellum, hypothalamus inferior lobes, and a small forebrain. In each case, preserved brains are substantially smaller than the enclosing cranial chamber. The neuroanatomical similarities shared by this grade of Permo-Carboniferous actinopterygians reflect probable primitive conditions for actinopterygians, providing a revised model for interpreting brain evolution in a major branch of the vertebrate tree of life.
•Soft-tissue preservation is found in late Paleozoic ray-finned fishes from Brazil•Brain anatomy differs among fossil taxa•One of these fossils represents the oldest evidence of an everted telencephalon•The fossil taxa bear a mosaic of “primitive” and “derived” characters
Figueroa et al. show that soft-tissue preservation in fossil ray-finned fishes is informative for interpreting evolution of neuroanatomy. Using X-ray micro-tomography, they find key differences in brain morphology among extinct taxa. These fossils indicate a more complex evolutionary history for ray-finned fish brains than previously anticipated.
Twenty-five years ago the first human functional neuroimaging studies of cognition discovered a surprising response in the cerebellum that could not be attributed to motor demands. This controversial ...observation challenged the well-entrenched view that the cerebellum solely contributes to the planning and execution of movement. Recurring neuroimaging findings combined with key insights from anatomy and case studies of neurological patients motivated a reconsideration of the traditional model of cerebellar organization and function. The majority of the human cerebellum maps to cerebral association networks in an orderly manner that includes a mirroring of the prominent cerebral asymmetries for language and attention. These findings inspire exploration of the cerebellum’s contributions to a diverse array of functional domains and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Randy Buckner provides a case study for how human neuroimaging methodologies have brought new insights to understanding human cognition. New neuroimaging and neuroanatomical tools combined with serendipitous discovery led to a surprising re-envisioning of the human cerebellum from contributing exclusively to motor planning and execution to a broader role in cognition.
Studying neuroanatomy using MRI Lerch, Jason P; van der Kouwe, André J W; Raznahan, Armin ...
Nature neuroscience,
03/2017, Letnik:
20, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The study of neuroanatomy using imaging enables key insights into how our brains function, are shaped by genes and environment, and change with development, aging and disease. Developments in MRI ...acquisition, image processing and data modeling have been key to these advances. However, MRI provides an indirect measurement of the biological signals we aim to investigate. Thus, artifacts and key questions of correct interpretation can confound the readouts provided by anatomical MRI. In this review we provide an overview of the methods for measuring macro- and mesoscopic structure and for inferring microstructural properties; we also describe key artifacts and confounds that can lead to incorrect conclusions. Ultimately, we believe that, although methods need to improve and caution is required in interpretation, structural MRI continues to have great promise in furthering our understanding of how the brain works.
The dentist's main working area is the head and neck region, which is innervated by the cranial nerves. On a daily basis, dentists must administer local anaesthesia to ensure pain-free treatment and ...differentiate between dental pain and neuropathies to avoid mistreatment. Therefore, neuroanatomical training, especially on the cranial nerves, is of immense importance for clinical practice. In order to adopt the curriculum, it is essential to constantly evaluate the quality of the training and to investigate whether there is a correlation between the students' performance and the relevance of the subfields to their work.
To address this issue, the results of MC exams in the neuroanatomy course for dental students at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin from winter semester 2014/2015 to winter semester 2019/2020 were analysed. Each question was assigned to a specific subfield of neuroanatomy. We then compared cranial nerves and cranial nerve nuclei (clinically relevant) with the remaining subfields (clinically less/not relevant) to investigate whether students performed better in anatomy subfields that are more aligned with the clinical practice of a dentist. We also conducted an anonymous survey (n=201) of the dental students.
From winter semester 2014/2015 to winter semester 2019/2020, students performed significantly (***, p< 0.001) better on the clinically relevant questions of the MC examination than on the less/not clinically relevant questions. However, when looking at each of the eleven semesters separately, only three semesters actually performed significantly better on the clinically relevant questions. Our survey also showed that students perceived the subfield of cranial nerves and cranial nerve nuclei to be the most relevant and studied it more intensively out of their own interest.
The study showed that students perceived the subfield of cranial nerves and cranial nerve nuclei to be the most relevant. However, there was no direct correlation between student performance and clinically relevant questions. Using student performance alone as an indicator of relevance is not optimal, as factors such as motivation to learn can have a significant impact.
Greater clinical relevance influences what students learn more intensively out of their own interest, but does not influence the results of the MC examination in favour of the subspecialty. Based on the available evidence, it is recommended that the structure of the neuroanatomy course be reconsidered.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been implicated in a variety of social, cognitive, and affective functions that are commonly disrupted in mental illness. In this review, we summarize ...data from a diverse array of human and animal studies demonstrating that the vmPFC is a key node of cortical and subcortical networks that subserve at least three broad domains of psychological function linked to psychopathology. One track of research indicates that the vmPFC is critical for the representation of reward- and value-based decision making, through interactions with the ventral striatum and amygdala. A second track of research demonstrates that the vmPFC is critical for the generation and regulation of negative emotion, through its interactions with the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, periaqueductal gray, hippocampus, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. A third track of research shows the importance of the vmPFC in multiple aspects of social cognition, such as facial emotion recognition, theory-of-mind ability, and processing self-relevant information, through its interactions with the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, dorsomedial PFC, and amygdala. We then present meta-analytic data revealing distinct subregions within the vmPFC that correspond to each of these three functions, as well as the associations between these subregions and specific psychiatric disorders (depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, addiction, social anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). We conclude by describing several translational possibilities for clinical studies of vmPFC-based circuits, including neuropsychological assessment of transdiagnostic functions, anatomical targets for intervention, predictors of treatment response, markers of treatment efficacy, and subtyping within disorders.
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