Abstract
Functional networks are regarded as important mechanisms for increasing our understanding of brain function in healthy and diseased states, and increased interest has been focused on extending the study of functional networks to animal models because such models provide a functional understanding of disease progression, therapy and repair. In rodents, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is an important cortical region because it has a large size and presents transitional patterns of lamination between the neocortex and archicortex. In addition, a number of invasive studies have highlighted the importance of the RSC for many functions. However, the network based on the RSC in rodents remains unclear. Based on the critical importance of the RSC, we defined the bilateral RSCs as two regions of interest and estimated the network based on the RSC. The results showed that the related regions include the parietal association cortex, hippocampus, thalamus nucleus, midbrain structures, and hypothalamic mammillary bodies. Our findings indicate two possible major networks: a sensory-cognitive network that has a hub in the RSCs and processes sensory information, spatial learning, and episodic memory; and a second network that is involved in the regulation of visceral functions and arousal. In addition, functional asymmetry between the bilateral RSCs was observed.
Highlights
The human brain is a complex hierarchical network capable of highly functional integration and segregation [1]
We included the significant connections with the bilateral retrosplenial cortex (RSC) in the three-dimensional brain model (Fig 3)
The results showed that the related regions mainly included the parietal association cortex, hippocampus, thalamus nucleus, midbrain structures, Fig 1
Summary
The human brain is a complex hierarchical network capable of highly functional integration and segregation [1]. The widely separated regions of the human brain exhibit a distinct functional network connected by interregional associations. Distinct networks, such as the vision network, motor network, auditory network, language network, and default-mode network [2,3,4], have been consistently identified in humans. Functional networks can be used as an important noninvasive tool for furthering our understanding of brain functions in healthy and diseased states. There is increased interest in extending the study of functional networks to animal models because such models can provide a functional understanding of disease progression, therapy and repair. Because of the critical importance of the RSC, we speculate that there may be a network based on the RSC that plays an important role in executing brain functions.
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