Anatomical location of the spinothalamic tract in the subcortical white matter in the human brain: A diffusion tensor imaging study.

Abstract

We investigated the anatomical location of the spinothalamic tract and its thalamocortical pathway (STT) in the subcortical white matter in normal subjects, using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). The STT was reconstructed using FMRIB software in 40 normal subjects. The most probable locations of the STT were defined as the location on an axial slice of the centrum semiovale (CS), corona radiata (CR), and posterior limb of the internal capsule (PL). The STT was located at an average of 62.66% in the anterior to posterior direction along a horizontal line that passed between the anterior and posterior ends of the brain, and an average of 36.29% lateral from the midline in the CS. In the CR, the STT was located at an average of 79.60% in the anterior to posterior direction along the aforementioned horizontal line, and an average of 36.36% lateral from the midline. In the PL, the STT was located at an average of 83.58% in the anterior to posterior direction along a horizontal line that passed the middle point at the genu of the internal capsule and the posterior endpoint of the putamen, and an average of 69.69% lateral from the midline to the lateral end of the putamen. We found the precise anatomical location of the STT in the subcortical white matter in the human brain using DTT. We believe that the results of this study will be helpful to clinicians in the neuroscience field.