Systematic analysis of the connectional neuroanatomy of the non-human primate cerebellum
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Abstract
The cerebellum is a complex brain structure highly connected to the spinal cord, brainstem and forebrain that plays a major role in the motor coordination of the body. While multiple studies elaborate on the function of the cerebellum, very little direct knowledge is known about the structural neuroanatomical connectivity of the human cerebellum. The majority of structural connectivity data about the cerebellum comes from studies in experimental animal models, which are then used to infer connections in the human brain. These studies involve the injection of tracers into specific brain regions. After a time interval for the tracer to be transported, the brain is cut and histologically prepared to demonstrate the presence and location of labeled neurons, axons and/or terminals. In this way, the connectivity of the injected area can be directly delimited. The macaque monkey is the experimental animal model most similar to the human and is the dominant model in which such connectivity studies are used to provide information about connections in the human brain. However, most of the connectivity studies performed in the monkey are performed in the forebrain. As a result, it is unclear which animal model has been used to detail cerebellar connectional diagrams that is to inform studies in the human cerebellum. In this project, we will address this question through a systematic examination of the connectional neuroanatomy of the macaque cerebellum. All scientific manuscripts using neuroanatomical tract-tracing techniques that delineate projections to or from the cerebellum in the macaque monkey will be collected and evaluated. We will then use data mining techniques to create a comprehensive database and connectivity matrix of the monkey cerebellum to better inform on the validity of diffusion MRI-based tractography connections in the human brain.
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2024