Open AccessAn investigation of the structural, connectional, and functional subspecialization in the human amygdala
Author(s) -
Bzdok Danilo,
Laird Angela R.,
Zilles Karl,
Fox Peter T.,
Eickhoff Simon B.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.22138
Subject(s) - amygdala , coactivation , neuroscience , voxel , human brain , psychology , neuroimaging , functional connectivity , brain mapping , voxel based morphometry , functional magnetic resonance imaging , magnetic resonance imaging , computer science , artificial intelligence , medicine , white matter , electromyography , radiology
Although the amygdala complex is a brain area critical for human behavior, knowledge of its subspecialization is primarily derived from experiments in animals. We here employed methods for large‐scale data mining to perform a connectivity‐derived parcellation of the human amygdala based on whole‐brain coactivation patterns computed for each seed voxel. Voxels within the histologically defined human amygdala were clustered into distinct groups based on their brain‐wide coactivation maps. Using this approach, connectivity‐based parcellation divided the amygdala into three distinct clusters that are highly consistent with earlier microstructural distinctions. Meta‐analytic connectivity modelling then revealed the derived clusters' brain‐wide connectivity patterns, while meta‐data profiling allowed their functional characterization. These analyses revealed that the amygdala's laterobasal nuclei group was associated with coordinating high‐level sensory input, whereas its centromedial nuclei group was linked to mediating attentional, vegetative, and motor responses. The often‐neglected superficial nuclei group emerged as particularly sensitive to olfactory and probably social information processing. The results of this model‐free approach support the concordance of structural, connectional, and functional organization in the human amygdala and point to the importance of acknowledging the heterogeneity of this region in neuroimaging research. Hum Brain Mapp 34:3247–3266, 2013 . © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.