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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 23, 2026

Fiber Connections of the Supplementary Motor Area Revisited: Methodology of Fiber Dissection, DTI, and Three Dimensional Documentation

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Clarifying Human White Matter.

Brian A Wandell¹

¹Department of Psychology and Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305;

Annual Review of Neuroscience

|April 7, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) advances allow visualization of major white matter tracts in the brain. These tracts are crucial for brain communication, and MRI helps study their properties impacting cognition and perception.

Keywords:

connectome dMRI diffusion spectrum imaging diffusion tensor imaging diffusion weighted imaging oligodendrocytes quantitative MRI tractography white matter

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Area of Science:

Neuroimaging
Neuroscience
Biophysics

Background:

White matter tracts are vital for inter-regional brain communication.
Understanding these tracts is key to comprehending cognitive functions.
Previous limitations in visualizing these structures have been overcome.

Purpose of the Study:

To review fundamental magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods.
To explain how MRI identifies major white matter tracts in vivo.
To highlight the link between tract properties and brain function.

Main Methods:

Description of advanced MRI techniques for white matter visualization.
Principles of biophysical modeling applied to tract analysis.
In vivo imaging of human brain white matter structure.

Main Results:

MRI can now identify major white matter tracts in living humans.
Tissue properties and structural features of tracts can be measured.
These measurements correlate with cognitive and perceptual abilities.

Conclusions:

MRI provides powerful tools for studying white matter anatomy and function.
Understanding white matter tracts is essential for neuroscience.
This review outlines the core MRI concepts for in vivo tract identification.