Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, 02215, Boston, MA, USA.
Neuroimage. 2019 Apr 1;189:777-792. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.010. Epub 2019 Jan 21.
Studies of structural brain connectivity have revealed many intriguing features of complex cortical networks. To advance integrative theories of cortical organization, an understanding is required of how connectivity interrelates with other aspects of brain structure. Recent studies have suggested that interareal connectivity may be related to a variety of macroscopic as well as microscopic architectonic features of cortical areas. However, it is unclear how these features are inter-dependent and which of them most strongly and fundamentally relate to structural corticocortical connectivity. Here, we systematically investigated the relation of a range of microscopic and macroscopic architectonic features of cortical organization, namely layer III pyramidal cell soma cross section, dendritic synapse count, dendritic synapse density and dendritic tree size as well as area neuron density, to multiple properties of cortical connectivity, using a comprehensive, up-to-date structural connectome of the primate brain. Importantly, relationships were investigated by multi-variate analyses to account for the interrelations of features. Of all considered factors, the classical architectonic parameter of neuron density most strongly and consistently related to essential features of cortical connectivity (existence and laminar patterns of projections, area degree), and in conjoint analyses largely abolished effects of cellular morphological features. These results confirm neuron density as a central architectonic indicator of the primate cerebral cortex that is closely related to essential aspects of brain connectivity and is also highly indicative of further features of the architectonic organization of cortical areas, such as the considered cellular morphological measures. Our findings integrate several aspects of cortical micro- and macroscopic organization, with implications for cortical development and function.
结构脑连接研究揭示了复杂皮质网络的许多有趣特征。为了推进皮质组织的综合理论，需要了解连接与大脑结构的其他方面如何相互关联。最近的研究表明，区域间连接可能与皮质区域的各种宏观和微观结构特征有关。然而，目前尚不清楚这些特征是如何相互依赖的，以及哪些特征与结构皮质间连接关系最密切。在这里，我们使用灵长类动物大脑的全面、最新的结构连接组，系统地研究了一系列微观和宏观结构组织特征（即 III 层锥体神经元胞体横截面积、树突突触计数、树突突触密度和树突大小以及区域神经元密度）与皮质连接的多种特性之间的关系，使用了综合的、最新的灵长类动物大脑结构连接组。重要的是，通过多元分析来研究关系，以解释特征的相互关系。在所有考虑的因素中，神经元密度作为神经元密度作为皮质连接的重要特征（投射的存在和分层模式、区域度）最强且最一致的经典结构参数，并且在联合分析中很大程度上消除了细胞形态特征的影响。这些结果证实了神经元密度作为灵长类大脑皮质的中枢结构指标，与大脑连接的基本方面密切相关，并且高度指示皮质区域结构组织的其他方面，如所考虑的细胞形态测量。我们的发现整合了皮质微观和宏观组织的几个方面，对皮质发育和功能具有重要意义。
