The Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Eur J Neurosci. 2010 Aug;32(3):383-98. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07279.x. Epub 2010 Jul 21.
Brodmann areas 6, 44 and 45 in the ventrolateral frontal cortex of the left hemisphere of the human brain constitute the anterior language production zone. The anatomical connectivity of these areas with parietal and temporal cortical regions was recently examined in an autoradiographic tract-tracing study in the macaque monkey. Studies suggest strong correspondence between human resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) based on functional magnetic resonance imaging data and experimentally demonstrated anatomical connections in non-human primates. Accordingly, we hypothesized that areas 6, 44 and 45 of the human brain would exhibit patterns of RSFC consistent with patterns of anatomical connectivity observed in the macaque. In a primary analysis, we examined the RSFC associated with regions-of-interest placed in ventrolateral frontal areas 6, 44 and 45, on the basis of local sulcal and gyral anatomy. We validated the results of the primary hypothesis-driven analysis with a data-driven partitioning of ventrolateral frontal cortex into regions exhibiting distinct RSFC patterns, using a spectral clustering algorithm. The RSFC of ventrolateral frontal areas 6, 44 and 45 was consistent with patterns of anatomical connectivity shown in the macaque. We observed a striking dissociation between RSFC for the ventral part of area 6 that is involved in orofacial motor control and RSFC associated with Broca's region (areas 44 and 45). These findings indicate rich and differential RSFC patterns for the ventrolateral frontal areas controlling language production, consistent with known anatomical connectivity in the macaque brain, and suggest conservation of connectivity during the evolution of the primate brain.
人类大脑左半球额下回的布罗卡区 6、44 和 45 构成了语言产生的前区。最近，在一项猕猴放射性自显影示踪研究中，对这些区域与顶叶和颞叶皮质区域的解剖连接进行了研究。研究表明，基于功能磁共振成像数据的人类静息状态功能连接 (RSFC) 与非人类灵长类动物中实验证明的解剖连接之间存在很强的对应关系。因此，我们假设人类大脑的 6、44 和 45 区将表现出与猕猴中观察到的解剖连接模式一致的 RSFC 模式。在主要分析中，我们根据局部脑沟和脑回的解剖结构，检查了与额下回 6、44 和 45 区的感兴趣区相关的 RSFC。我们使用谱聚类算法将额下回皮质划分为具有不同 RSFC 模式的区域，对主要假设驱动分析的结果进行了验证。额下回 6、44 和 45 区的 RSFC 与猕猴中显示的解剖连接模式一致。我们观察到涉及口面部运动控制的区域 6 的腹侧部分的 RSFC 与布罗卡区（44 和 45 区）的 RSFC 之间存在惊人的分离。这些发现表明，控制语言产生的额下回区域具有丰富而不同的 RSFC 模式，与猕猴大脑中的已知解剖连接一致，并表明在灵长类大脑的进化过程中连接的保守性。
