Towards a functional atlas of human white matter

Objectives: Although diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and postmortem dissections improved the knowledge of white matter (WM) anatomy, functional information is lacking. Our aims are: to provide a subcortical atlas of human brain functions; to elucidate the functional roles of different bundles; to provide a probabilistic resection map of WM. Experimental design: We studied 130 patients who underwent awake surgery for gliomas (82 left; 48 right) with electrostimulation mapping at cortical and subcortical levels. Different aspects of language, sensori-motor, spatial cognition, and visual functions were monitored. 339 regions of interest (ROIs) including the functional response errors collected during stimulation were co-registered in the MNI space, as well as the resections’ areas and residual tumors. Functional response errors and resection areas were matched with DTI and cortical atlases. Subcortical maps for each function and a probability map of resection were computed. Principal obser...