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Updated: Sep 3, 2025
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Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: February 23, 2020
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A macroscopic link between interhemispheric tract myelination and cortico-cortical interactions during action
Alberto Lazari1, Piergiorgio Salvan2, Lennart Verhagen3,4
1Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. alberto.lazari@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.
Nature Communications
|July 22, 2022
Summary
Brain myelination influences how different areas communicate. This study shows myelin in white matter tracts impacts motor network function and behavior in humans.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- White Matter Research
Background:
- Myelination is crucial for brain function and dysfunction.
- Axon myelination's role in human brain physiology, particularly in white matter tracts, remains unclear.
- The hypothesis is that myelin in connecting white matter tracts shapes cortico-cortical interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if myelin levels in human white matter tracts influence cortico-cortical interactions.
- To examine the relationship between myelin markers and physiological measures of brain connectivity.
- To explore the link between white matter myelination and motor behavior.
Main Methods:
- Used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for physiological measures.
- Combined TMS with multimodal myelin markers (MT, R1, R2*, FA).
- Studied a premotor-to-motor circuit in a large cohort of healthy subjects.
Main Results:
- Physiological measures of premotor-to-motor interaction correlated with multiple myelin markers.
- Interindividual differences in tract myelination are associated with motor network physiology.
- Myelination metrics indirectly influence action switching via primary motor cortex dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Myelination levels in white matter tracts may shape millisecond-level cortico-cortical interactions.
- A link exists between motor network physiology and tract myelination.
- Provides a potential mechanism for how brain myelination relates to human behavior.
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