Research Note: Functional Connectivity Between a Corticostriatal Network and the Cerebellum

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Functional Neuroimaging

Background:

• The basal ganglia and cerebellum exhibit known structural and functional connections in animal models.
• Human studies using tractography and seed-based functional connectivity confirm a cerebellar-striatal relationship.
• Independent component analysis (ICA) indicates that both the cerebellum and basal ganglia participate in distinct intrinsic brain networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the cerebellum and basal ganglia in humans.
• To explore the relationship between intrinsic brain networks involving these structures.

Main Methods:

• Probabilistic ICA was employed on resting-state fMRI data from 15 healthy volunteers.
• A 3 Tesla MRI scanner was used for data acquisition.

Main Results:

• A spatial map of dorsal and ventral basal ganglia circuits demonstrated functional coherence with Crus 2 of the cerebellum.
• This coherence was particularly noted in the vermal region of Crus 2.

Conclusions:

• The observed cerebellar-basal ganglionic rsFC potentially reflects underlying structural interconnections previously identified in animals.
• This functional connectivity may contribute to understanding reward-based activity observed within the cerebellum.