Direct interhemispheric cortical communication via thalamic commissures: a new white-matter pathway in the primate brain

• Published in: bioRxiv
• Main Authors: Szczupak, Diego, Schaeffer, David J, Tian, Xiaoguang, Choi, Sang-Ho, Fang-Cheng, Iack, Pamela Meneses, Campos, Vinicius P, Mayo, J Patrick, Patsch, Janina, Mitter, Christian, Haboosheh, Amit, Vieira, Marcelo A C, Kasprian, Gregor, Tovar-Moll, Fernanda, Lent, Roberto, Silva, Afonso C
• Format: Journal Article Paper
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 15.06.2023
• Edition: 1.1
• Subjects: Neuroscience; Neuroplasticity; Marmoset; tractography; Corpus Callosum; Thalamic Commissures; non-human primates; Diffusion imaging; Primate; white mater
• ISSN: 2692-8205; 2692-8205
• DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.15.545128

Cortical neurons of eutherian mammals project to the contralateral hemisphere, crossing the midline primarily via the corpus callosum and the anterior, posterior, and hippocampal commissures. We recently reported an additional commissural pathway in rodents, termed the thalamic commissures (TCs), as another interhemispheric axonal fiber pathway that connects cortex to the contralateral thalamus. Here, we demonstrate that TCs also exist in primates and characterize the connectivity of these pathways with high-resolution diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, viral axonal tracing, and functional MRI. We present evidence of TCs in both New World ( and ) and Old World primates ( ). Further, like rodents, we show that the TCs in primates develop during the embryonic period, forming anatomical and functionally active connections of the cortex with the contralateral thalamus. We also searched for TCs in the human brain, showing their presence in humans with brain malformations, although we could not identify TCs in healthy subjects. These results pose the TCs as an important fiber pathway in the primate brain, allowing for more robust interhemispheric connectivity and synchrony and serving as an alternative commissural route in developmental brain malformations.