Frontoparietal Tracts Linked to Lateralized Hand Preference and Manual Specialization

Henrietta Howells; Michel Thiebaut de Schotten; Flavio Dell’Acqua; Ahmad Beyh; Giuseppe Zappalà; Anoushka Leslie; Andrew Simmons; Declan G Murphy; Marco Catani

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhy040

Frontoparietal Tracts Linked to Lateralized Hand Preference and Manual Specialization

Henrietta Howells, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Flavio Dell’Acqua, Ahmad Beyh, Giuseppe Zappalà, Anoushka Leslie, Andrew Simmons, Declan G Murphy, Marco Catani

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Abstract

Humans show a preference for using the right hand over the left for tasks and activities of everyday life. While experimental work in non-human primates has identified the neural systems responsible for reaching and grasping, the neural basis of lateralized motor behavior in humans remains elusive. The advent of diffusion imaging tractography for studying connectional anatomy in the living human brain provides the possibility of understanding the relationship between hemispheric asymmetry, hand preference, and manual specialization. In this study, diffusion tractography was used to demonstrate an interaction between hand preference and the asymmetry of frontoparietal tracts, specifically the dorsal branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, responsible for visuospatial integration and motor planning. This is in contrast to the corticospinal tract and the superior cerebellar peduncle, for which asymmetry was not related to hand preference. Asymmetry of the dorsal frontoparietal tract was also highly correlated with the degree of lateralization in tasks requiring visuospatial integration and fine motor control. These results suggest a common anatomical substrate for hand preference and lateralized manual specialization in frontoparietal tracts important for visuomotor processing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2482-2494
Number of pages	13
Journal	Cerebral Cortex
Volume	28
Issue number	7
Early online date	21 Apr 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy040
Publication status	Published - Jul 2018

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Cite this

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title = "Frontoparietal Tracts Linked to Lateralized Hand Preference and Manual Specialization",

abstract = "Humans show a preference for using the right hand over the left for tasks and activities of everyday life. While experimental work in non-human primates has identified the neural systems responsible for reaching and grasping, the neural basis of lateralized motor behavior in humans remains elusive. The advent of diffusion imaging tractography for studying connectional anatomy in the living human brain provides the possibility of understanding the relationship between hemispheric asymmetry, hand preference, and manual specialization. In this study, diffusion tractography was used to demonstrate an interaction between hand preference and the asymmetry of frontoparietal tracts, specifically the dorsal branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, responsible for visuospatial integration and motor planning. This is in contrast to the corticospinal tract and the superior cerebellar peduncle, for which asymmetry was not related to hand preference. Asymmetry of the dorsal frontoparietal tract was also highly correlated with the degree of lateralization in tasks requiring visuospatial integration and fine motor control. These results suggest a common anatomical substrate for hand preference and lateralized manual specialization in frontoparietal tracts important for visuomotor processing.",

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AU - Howells, Henrietta

AU - Thiebaut de Schotten, Michel

AU - Dell’Acqua, Flavio

AU - Beyh, Ahmad

AU - Zappalà, Giuseppe

AU - Leslie, Anoushka

AU - Simmons, Andrew

AU - Murphy, Declan G

AU - Catani, Marco

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AB - Humans show a preference for using the right hand over the left for tasks and activities of everyday life. While experimental work in non-human primates has identified the neural systems responsible for reaching and grasping, the neural basis of lateralized motor behavior in humans remains elusive. The advent of diffusion imaging tractography for studying connectional anatomy in the living human brain provides the possibility of understanding the relationship between hemispheric asymmetry, hand preference, and manual specialization. In this study, diffusion tractography was used to demonstrate an interaction between hand preference and the asymmetry of frontoparietal tracts, specifically the dorsal branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, responsible for visuospatial integration and motor planning. This is in contrast to the corticospinal tract and the superior cerebellar peduncle, for which asymmetry was not related to hand preference. Asymmetry of the dorsal frontoparietal tract was also highly correlated with the degree of lateralization in tasks requiring visuospatial integration and fine motor control. These results suggest a common anatomical substrate for hand preference and lateralized manual specialization in frontoparietal tracts important for visuomotor processing.

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EP - 2494

JO - Cerebral Cortex

JF - Cerebral Cortex

IS - 7

ER -

Frontoparietal Tracts Linked to Lateralized Hand Preference and Manual Specialization

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