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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on July 16, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp141
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A DTI Investigation of Neural Substrates Supporting Tool Use

Ashwin G. Ramayya1, Matthew F. Glasser1 and James K. Rilling1,2,3,4

1 Department of Anthropology, 2 Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, 3 Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 4 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

Address correspondence to James K. Rilling, PhD, Department of Anthropology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Email: jrillin{at}emory.edu.

Recent functional neuroimaging and brain lesion studies have implicated a network of left hemisphere regions in human tool use: 1) posterior middle temporal cortex involved in conceptual knowledge of tools, 2) posterior inferior parietal cortex for representations of learned tool use gestures, and 3) anterior inferior parietal cortex, along with posterior inferior frontal and ventral premotor cortices, involved in grasping and manipulating objects. Here, we use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the anatomical connections that support this putative network. DTI scans were acquired from nineteen right-handed males and a deterministic tractography algorithm was used to identify connections between these regions implicated in tool use. Three of the resulting pathways were larger in the left than the right hemisphere. One connected posterior middle temporal cortex and the anterior inferior parietal cortex, a second connected posterior middle temporal cortex and the posterior inferior parietal cortex, and a third connected anterior inferior parietal cortex and the frontal lobe. In contrast, the connection between the posterior inferior parietal cortex and the frontal lobe was highly rightwardly asymmetric. Although further study is necessary to establish the functions of these pathways, we integrate our findings with previous evidence from functional neuroimaging and apraxia studies to suggest some possible functions.

Key Words: dorsal stream • inferior parietal lobe • neglect • spatial awareness • ventral stream • visual pathways

Received for publication March 4, 2009. Revision received June 18, 2009. Accepted for publication June 18, 2009.


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