Human limbic system: Bridging micro- and macroscopic anatomy using advanced imaging

长期以来，人们一直认为大脑边缘系统在我们如何体验和控制情绪方面发挥着关键作用。研究最广泛的区域之一是杏仁核，它经常与情绪反应和识别有关，前扣带、眶额叶和腹外侧前额叶已被证明在情绪重新评估中发挥重要作用。此外，最近来自任务型和无任务型功能磁共振成像的发现表明，多个情绪产生和调节区域以复杂的方式相互作用，最终导致主观情绪体验和行为，这表明孤立地考虑这些区域及其潜在过程是不够的。在人类中，缺乏对边缘系统进行详细的体内分解，包括结构标记、功能和网络级组织。***本研究未来5年的总体目标是通过建立一个框架，将微尺度细胞结构（来自死后3D组织学）、中尺度组织特性（来自体内亚毫米定量对比）和宏观尺度连通性（来自体内扩散MRI和静息状态fMRI）的信息桥接起来，生成一个全面的人体边缘系统的体内制图。在独特的多学科研究和培训环境中进行测试和验证。多元统计模型将整合不同层次的分析。中介模型将情绪调节能力的微观结构、功能和差异联系起来。一个主要目标是在不需要跨学科平均的情况下绘制个体解剖空间中的边缘系统，这是推进对该网络生理学理解的必要步骤。***该项目将为下一代科学家提供良好的培训机会，并促进我们对这一回路的解剖功能组织的理解，这一回路对日常生活中的情感、关系和幸福至关重要。最终，这个项目可能会促进情绪调节策略的发展，以应对日常问题。

The limbic system has long been recognized to play a key role in how we experience and control emotions. While one of the most widely studied regions has been the amygdala, frequently implicated in emotional reactivity and recognition, anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, and ventrolateral prefrontal have been shown to play an important role in emotion reappraisal. Moreover, recent findings from task-based as well as task-free fMRI have shown that multiple emotion generating and regulating regions interact in complex ways that ultimately result in subjective emotional experiences and behaviors, suggesting that it is not sufficient to consider these areas and their underlying processes in isolation. In humans, a detailed in vivo parcellation of the limbic system that integrates structural markup, function and network-level organization is lacking. ***The overall goal of this research for the next 5 years is generate a comprehensive in vivo cartography of the human limbic system through the development of a framework bridging information from microscale cytoarchitecture (derived from 3D post-mortem histology), mesoscale tissue properties (obtained from in vivo submillimetric quantitative contrasts), and macroscale connectivity (inferred from in vivo diffusion MRI and resting-state fMRI), tested and validated within a unique multidisciplinary research and training environment. Multivariate statistical modeling will integrate different levels of analysis. Mediation models will link microstructure, function, and differences in emotion regulation capacity. A main goal is to map the limbic system in the individual's anatomical space without the need for across subject averaging, a necessary step to advance the understanding of the physiology of this network. ***This program will provide excellent training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and advance our understanding of anatomo-functional organization of this circuitry pivotal for affect, relationships and well-being in day-to-day life. Ultimately, this program may foster the development of emotion regulation strategies to cope with everyday problems.