Optimal blocking of the cerebral cortex for cytoarchitectonic examination: a neuronavigation-based approach

Certain sulci of the human cerebral cortex hold consistent relationships to cytoarchitectonic areas (e.g. the primary motor cortical area 4 and the somatosensory cortical area 3 occupy the anterior and posterior banks of the central sulcus, respectively). Recent research has improved knowledge of the cortical sulci and their variability across individuals. However, other than the so-called primary sulci, understanding of the precise relationships cortical folds hold with many cytoarchitectonic areas remains elusive. To examine these relationships, the cortex must be blocked, sectioned, and histologically processed in a manner that allows the cytoarchitectonic layers to be clearly observed. The optimal strategy to view the cytoarchitecture is to block and section the cortex perpendicular to the sulcal orientation. Most cytoarchitectonic investigations of the cortex, however, have been conducted on specimens cut along a single axis (e.g. the coronal plane), which distorts the appearance of the cytoarchitectonic layers within parts of the cortical ribbon not sectioned optimally. Thus, to understand further the relationships between sulci and cytoarchitectonic areas, the cortex should be sectioned optimally to the sulci of interest. A novel approach for blocking the cortex optimally using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and surgical neuronavigation tools is presented here.