Tractography‐based Parcellation And Subregional Connectivity Of The Human Middle Temporal Gyrus

The middle temporal gyrus(MTG) is a unique brain region in human beings compared with other non-human primates and has been reported to participate in a variety of functions, suggesting the existence of distinct functional subregions. However, a consensus parcellation scheme of the human MTG has not yet been well established. In order to further delineate the functions of this brain area, in this study, we firstly attempted to parcellate the MTG based on its distinct anatomical connectivity profiles in two independent datasets. The consistent parcellation results indentified two distinct subregions in the two datasets, including the anterior(MTGant) and posterior(MTGpos) part of MTG. Then, we mapped the whole-brain anatomical connectivity patterns, the whole resting-state functional connectivity(RSFC) patterns, and functional fingerprint patterns with 10 independent networks to explore the possible functions of each MTG subregion. These results revealed that the MTGant was mainly involved in language network, default mode network, and visual processing network while the MTGpos played an important part in language network. Moverer, further study on functional and structural fingerprint patterns with 6 classic language brain regions demonstrated different patterns. The proposed subdivisions of MTG and its functions may improve our understanding on the complex functions at the subregional level and provide more detailed information for further study.