Imaging gray matter structure in human auditory cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：由于我们无法辨别活体人类大脑皮层灰质的内部结构，因此将人类听觉皮层的结构和功能联系起来的尝试受到严重阻碍。在这里，我们建议利用和扩展结构MRI的最新进展，以解决人体灰质骨髓结构和厚度在体内的功能。高场扫描、专门设计的成像线圈以及最先进的3D分析和可视化技术将用于在亚毫米尺度上解析灰质结构的特征（即，层状结构、髓磷脂密度、厚度），这些通常仅在死后组织中可辨别。通过空间映射这些灰质特征，我们提出描绘在基本水平上定义听觉皮层组织的解剖区域（例如，核心，带），但以前从未在活着的人类大脑中区分过。结合功能性神经影像学，这项工作将使皮质神经解剖学和功能在个体人类中相关，到目前为止，只有在动物中才有可能。通过提供前所未有的人类大脑皮层神经解剖学，这项工作有望为理解正常和异常的听觉、言语和语言过程的结构基础开辟新的途径。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attempts to relate structure and function in human auditory cortex have been seriously impeded by our inability to discern the internal architecture of cortical gray matter in living humans. Here, we propose exploiting and extending recent advances in structural MRI to resolve features of human gray matter myeloarchitecture and thickness in vivo. High-field scanning, specially-designed imaging coils, and state-of the-art 3D analysis and visualization techniques will be used to resolve - on a submillimeter scale - features of gray matter architecture (i.e., laminar structure, myelin density, thickness) that would normally be discernable only in postmortem tissue. By spatially mapping these gray matter features, we propose to delineate anatomical areas that define auditory cortical organization at a fundamental level (e.g., core, belt), but have never before been distinguished in the living human brain. Combined with functional neuroimaging, this work will enable cortical neuroanatomy and function to be related in individual humans, in ways that have so far only been possible in animals. By providing unprecedented access to the cortical neuroanatomy of living humans, the proposed work promises to open new avenues for understanding the structural underpinnings of hearing, speech, and language processes, both normal and abnormal.