Sledge runner fasciculus: anatomic architecture and tractographic morphology

Abstract

The sledge runner fasciculus (SRF) has been recently identified as a discrete fiber tract of the occipital lobe and has been allegedly implicated in the axonal connectivity of cortical areas conveying spatial navigation and visuospatial imagery. However, detailed knowledge regarding its anatomic and tractographic morphology is lacking. We thus opted to investigate the anatomy and connectivity of the SRF through cadaveric dissections and DTI studies. Twenty normal, adult, cerebral, cadaveric hemispheres treated with the Klingler’s method were dissected through the fiber microdissection technique and 35 healthy participants from the MGH-USC Adult Diffusion Dataset (Human Connectome available dataset) underwent a tailored DTI protocol aiming to investigate the structural architecture of the SRF. SR was identified as a discrete fiber pathway, just under the U fibers of the medial occipital lobe, exhibiting a dorsomedial–ventrolateral trajectory and connecting the cortical areas of the anterior cuneus, anterior lingula, isthmus of the cingulum and posterior parahippocampal gyrus. The topography of the SR in relation to adjacent fiber pathways such as the cingulum, major forceps and stratum calcarinum is clearly delineated. Dissection and tractographic findings showed a good correspondence regarding SR topography, morphology and axonal connectivity. Our results support the hypothesis that the SRF is involved in the structural axonal connectivity of cerebral areas that strongly activate during spatial navigation and visuospatial imagery. Furthermore detailed anatomo-imaging evidence is provided on the microanatomic architecture of this newly discovered fiber tract.