Fig 1.
DTI processing and brainstem tractography flowchart.
In-lab image processing pipeline for registration and atlas building based on structural MRI and DTI from 300 WRIISC-CA participants.
Fig 2.
Brainstem fiber tracts and manual ROI placement.
Placement of ROI-pairs (“Seed” and “target”) and their fiber outputs performed with manual tractography. Abbreviations: MLF = medial longitudinal fasciculus; DLF = dorsal longitudinal fasciculus; SCP = superior cerebellar peduncle; MFT = medial forebrain tract; NST = nigrostriatal tract; FPT = frontopontine tract; CST = corticospinal tract; STT = spinothalamic tract; POTPT = parieto-, occipito-, and temporopontine Tract.
Fig 3.
Representative brainstem fiber tracts and corresponding neuroanatomy in two brainstem levels.
Left: color-coded anisotropic map (red: left-right oriented; blue: superior-inferior oriented; green: anterior-posterior oriented); Middle: six brainstem reticular tracts superimposed on a T1WI; Right: corresponding anatomic sections. Abbreviations: CP = cerebral peduncle; ML = medial lemniscus; STT = spinothalamic tract; MCP = middle cerebellar peduncle; SCP = superior cerebellar peduncle; MLF = medial longitudinal fasciculus); DLF = dorsal longitudinal fasciculus; MFT = Medial Forebrain Tract; NST = nigrostriatal tract; LC = locus coeruleus; PAG = periaqueductal gray matter. The brainstem anatomical pictures are downloaded from the web site (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/Atlas/BrainStem/index.html) with permission of the author.
Table 1.
Anatomy along with possible associated neurotransmitters and functions, as well as associated references of brainstem circuits.
Fig 4.
Relations between FA and pain levels.
Scatter plots of relations between FA of the MLF and DLF tracts and two pain scales.
Table 2.
Linear regressions between FA of brainstem tracts and pain levels.
Fig 5.
Illustration of brainstem reticular tracts.
Conceptual sketch according to the DTI tractography of the brainstem reticular tracts, their anatomy, fiber-linked gray matter centers and potentially associated functions.